Former Georgia football Coach Jim Donnan says he can see the Arkansas football team has improved, just not enough to get over the hump in the SEC West.
At least not yet.
Donnan had faith
in being acquitted
Former Georgia football Coach Jim Donnan spoke mostly about football when he addressed the Little Rock Touchdown Club Monday at the Embassy Suites Hotel.
But Donnan, who coached the Bulldogs from 1996-2000, addressed his May acquittal on 41 charges related to an investment fraud scheme back.
Donnan, 69, faced conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges.
Donnan’s lawyers maintained he was duped and thought he was sharing an opportunity with friends while prosecutors said he and Gregory Crabtree of Proctorville, Ohio, ran a fraudulent investment scheme from September 2007 to December 2010 through GLC Limited, a West Virginia-based company dealing in wholesale and closeout merchandise. The prosecutors claimed the two promised high rates of return, but paid investors with other investor money. The two were accused of enticing 94 people to invest over $80 million.
“I had good faith in my lawyers and good faith in my friends and knew things would turn out OK,” Donnan said.
"When I look at the Razorbacks, I see a lot of direction," said Donnan, 69, who spoke Monday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club at the Embassy Suites hotel in Little Rock. "I see Bret Bielema is taking taking the players he inherited and blending them in with the ones he's recruited. Right now, they appear to be about a year or two away from getting to where they want to be."
Donnan said how long it takes to rebuild a program can very, depending on how much talent is inherited and the level of competition a team faces.
Competing in the SEC West is one problem, Donnan said, with five of the seven West teams ranked in the top 21 of the AP and coaches polls.
"I look at Arkansas and I see a lot of loyal fans and for your sake, I hope things turn around for you," Donnan said. "The problem is the other people are not going to drop football."
But Donnan also pointed out that sometimes teams can come out of nowwhere, noting that Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen was 1-17 against LSU, Alabama and Auburn coming into the season.
The Bulldogs have gone from unranked to No. 1 after winning at then-No. 8 LSU 34-29 on Sept 20, then heading to Starkville to beat then-No. 6 Texas A&M 48-31 on Oct. 14 and then- No. 2 Auburn 38-23 last Saturday.
"Sometimes turnarounds happen a lot faster than others," Donnan said, pointing out how the emergence of Dak Prescott at quarterback has helped the Bulldogs. "If you got players, you got a chance. Acquisition of talent is the name of the game."
Playing in a division that is loaded with tough teams is something Donnan endured during his five seasons at Georgia from 1996-2000, when the East was dominated by Tennessee and Florida.
Donnan's overall record at Georgia was 40-19, but he didn't win the division and went 2-8 against Tennessee and Florida, who combined to win the SEC East all 5 years, along with 3 SEC championships and 2 national championships.
"We were ranked in the top 15 in the country, but that wasn't good enough," Donnan said. "The thing that hurt me was I turned down $5 million twice when North Carolina and Oklahoma offered me their coaching jobs."
Donnan hasn't coached since, going into broadcasting at ESPN and is now as an analyst with the American Sports Network, which televises Conference USA games.
Looking ahead to Saturday's game between Arkansas and No. 10 Georgia, Donnan said Georgia showed it has a lot more than running back Todd Gurley, who was suspended indefinitely after allegations arose last week that he was paid $400 to sign 80 pieces of memorabilia on the Georgia campus last spring.
The Bulldogs defeated then-No. 23 Missouri 34-0 on Saturday with backup Nick Chubb rushing for 143 yards and 1 touchdown.
"When I saw that score, I couldn't believe it," said Donnan, a former head coach at Marshall (1990-1995) and former offensive coordinator at Oklahoma (1985-1989). "When you take your best player away, that is a negative because he is such a difference maker, but Nick Chubb stepped up and so did the rest of the team.
"They are very well coached and they have a very good defensive coordinator in Jeremy Pruitt, who won national championships at Alabama and Florida State. They're not as good defensively as they've been in the past, so you can move the ball on them."
Sports on 10/14/2014