Pooch Donovan

{{Infobox college coach

|image=William (Pooch) Donovan.jpg

|birth_date=September 19, 1866

|birth_place=Natick, Massachusetts, U.S.

|death_date={{Death date and age|1928|8|21|1866|09|19}}

|death_place=Natick, Massachusetts, U.S.

|coach_sport1=Track

|coach_team2=Harvard

|coach_years2=1907–1921

|coach_team3=Harvard

|coach_years3=1925–1928

|coach_sport4=Football

|coach_team5=Harvard

|coach_years5=1918

}}

William Francis "Pooch" Donovan Sr. (September 19, 1866 – August 21, 1928) was an American athletic trainer and coach. He was head coach of the Harvard Crimson track team from 1908 to 1921 and 1925 to 1928, trainer of the Harvard Crimson football team from 1907 to 1925, head coach of the football team in 1918, and trainer for the Harvard Crimson baseball team from 1907 to 1928.

Biography

Donovan was born on September 19, 1866,{{cite web|title=Wm. Donovan|website=Massachusetts, U.S., Birth Records, 1840-1915|publisher=Ancestry.com|location=Provo, UT|url=https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/records?recordId=6786039&collectionId=5062&tid=13070882&pid=342597844352&ssrc=pt|url-access=subscription|access-date=November 10, 2024}} in Natick, Massachusetts. He had a brother, Edward S. Donovan who was called Piper Donovan, who was a noted track athlete. His first cousin, Keene Fitzpatrick, was the longtime track coach at the University of Michigan. Donovan competed in track and football and was a member of the Natick Ladder Truck Team with future college trainers Keene Fitzpatrick, Mike Murphy, and John J. Mack.{{cite news |title=Four Famous Natick Runners Now Train College Athletes |work=The Boston Daily Globe |date=March 6, 1910}}

Donovan began his career in 1887 as an assistant trainer under Mike Murphy at Yale University. In 1892 he became the athletic trainer for the Cleveland Athletic Club. The following year he moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, and began training athletes at the Worcester Oval.{{cite news |title="Pooch" Donovan Coming to Harvard |work=The Boston Daily Globe |date=August 28, 1906 |page=7 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe/140256059/ |via=Newspapers.com}}

In the fall of 1893, while briefly enrolled as a 27-year-old student at Phillips Exeter Academy, Donovan played halfback on the school's football team and led it to victory over its traditional archrival, Phillips Andover.{{cite web|last=Morris|first=Amy|website=Andover.edu|url=https://www.andover.edu/news/2018/pride-professionals-and-a-man-named-pooch|title=Pride, professionals and a man named 'Pooch'|date=November 7, 2013|access-date=August 4, 2024}} Controversy ensued when the Boston Herald challenged Donovan's eligibility and amateur status by recounting his athletic past, which included running races for payment and cash prizes.{{cite book|last=Harrison|first=Fred H.|title=Athletics for All: Physical Education and Athletics at Phillips Academy, Andover, 1778–1978|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/athleticsforallp00fred/page/102/|chapter=Chapter VII: Professionalism and Faculty Control|page=102–104|publisher=Phillips Academy|location=Andover, MA|year=1983}} Suspicions arose that Donovan and two teammates had been brought to Exeter solely to play football. In reaction to the controversy, Andover severed athletic relations with Exeter, initiating a three-year hiatus in the Andover–Exeter rivalry.

In 1895 he became the physical director of the Worcester Academy. In the fall of that year, he was trainer and halfback on the Duquesne Country and Athletic Club football team.{{cite book|last=Edwards|first=William H.|title=Football Days: Memories of the Game and of the Men Behind the Ball|year=1916|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/18048/18048-h/18048-h.htm|publisher=Moffat, Yard & Company|location=New York|page=319|access-date=February 4, 2024|via=Project Gutenberg}} He served as the athletic trainer at Brown University from 1896 to 1897 then returned to the Worcester Academy, where he trained Arthur Duffey and John W. Mayhew.

In August 1906, Donovan was hired by Harvard to train their football and baseball teams starting in the fall of 1907. In 1908 he became the coach of Harvard's track team.{{cite news |title=Donovan Harvard's Track Coach |work=The New York Times |date=July 15, 1908}} He coached the 1918 Harvard Crimson football team, which only played three games due to World War I.{{cite web|title=1918 Harvard Crimson Schedule and Results|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=SR/College Football|access-date=February 27, 2017|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/harvard/1918-schedule.html}} In 1921, Donovan was succeeded as track coach by W. J. Bingham, but stayed on as trainer of the football and baseball teams.{{cite news |last1=Webb |first1=Melville |title=Bingham's Job to Build Up Harvard Track Team |work=The Boston Daily Globe |date=February 10, 1921}} In 1925, track coach Eddie Farrell replaced Donovan as trainer of the Harvard football team. Donovan served as track coach during the football season in Farrell's absence.{{cite news |title=Eddie Farrell to Train Harvard Eleven Next Fall |work=The Boston Daily Globe |date=July 23, 1925}}

Donovan had a heart attack in Amsterdam after the 1928 Summer Olympics. He returned home on August 12, 1928. He died on August 21, 1928, and was buried on August 24, 1928.{{cite news |title=Pooch Donovan is Dead. Heart Disease Fatal to Famous Old Harvard Athletic Trainer |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0iQbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QkoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2882,5320876 |newspaper=The Pittsburgh Press |date=August 21, 1928 |accessdate=April 27, 2011 |via=Google News }}{{cite news |title=Pooch Donovan Buried. Leading Sportsmen Attend Rites for Harvard Trainer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/08/24/archives/pooch-donovan-buried-leading-sportsmen-attend-rites-for-harvard.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 24, 1928 |accessdate=April 26, 2011 }}