The University of Saint Francis has given Head Football Coach Kevin Donley a contract extension extending Donley’s future at USF through 2020.
“It is only fitting that our student-athletes, parents and Fort Wayne community understand that Kevin Donley will be our coach for the foreseeable future,” USF Director of Athletics Mike McCaffrey said. “Coming off another amazing year on the gridiron and in the classroom, the university administration felt it appropriate to reward “Coach D” with an extension to his contract through the 2020 football season. He has earned it, and we are fortunate to keep him committed to USF for that duration of time.”
Donley, the founder of the USF Football program in 1997 and two-time NAIA National Coach of the Year, has a 175-43 record in 18 seasons at USF including 17 consecutive winning seasons. USF finished 9-0 during the regular season finishing as the only unbeaten team in NAIA football in 2015. He was named 2015 MSFA Mideast League Coach of the Year, the 10th time he’s earned the award after guiding USF to a 12th MSFA MEL championship. Donley, 64, is the NAIA career wins leader with 289 in 37 seasons. Donley will be inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in January 2014.
Donley captured a National Championship title in 1991 as head coach of Georgetown College. He started his collegiate coaching career with four successful seasons at Anderson College. In 1981, he led the Ravens to a 9-2 record and a berth in the NAIA Division II playoffs, as well as Hoosier-Buckeye Collegiate Conference championships in 1980 and 1981. Donley’s teams compiled a 28-9 (.757) overall record during his four-year stay. He was named conference coach of the year while at Anderson, and on nine occasions while at Georgetown (Ky.).
“I am truly grateful to the entire Saint Francis community for this opportunity to continue to coach football,” Donley asserted. “I also appreciate the support of Fort Wayne and the surrounding region as we continue our mission to develop quality young men into meaningful contributors to our community and to win some games along the way. I think we’ve been able to do that – but we still have goals to accomplish.”
The University of Saint Francis celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2015. Founded in 1890 as a comprehensive university in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, USF offers more than 80 undergraduate and graduate programs through the School of Health Sciences, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Keith Busse School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership and School of Creative Arts. In addition to its traditional programs, the university designs focused curricula for working adults in Fort Wayne, Crown Point and online. The university will open a Downtown Fort Wayne Campus in the fall of 2016 that will feature business, entrepreneurship and music technology programs. Currently 2,300 students from a broad geographic region attend USF for its academic excellence.
