Former Washington Huskies coach John Donovan hired by Green Bay Packers

by:Austin Brezina•04/18/22•

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A former Washington Huskies football coach was hired back to the NFL level by the Green Bay Packers, following his dismissal from Washington last year. Former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach John Donovan will serve as a senior offensive analyst for the Packers this year, his second NFL coaching position.

Former Washington coach hired by Green Bay

“Former Washington offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach John Donovan has been hired by the Green Bay Packers as a senior offensive analyst,” said On3’s Matt Zenitz. “Worked at Washington the last two seasons. Has also been an offensive coordinator at Penn State and Vanderbilt.”

Donovan joined the Huskies two seasons ago when Jimmy Lake took over the program as head coach, and has since been dismissed from Washington as Lake was fired last season. With his next coaching destination up in the air, it appears he has now landed at the NFL level with the Packers.

With Donovan as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Washington began the shortened 2020 season with a 3-1 record against Pac-12 opponents before it was cut short. Unfortunately, they only matched that same conference win total last year after finishing with a disappointing 4-8 overall record and a 3-6 conference record.

Prior to joining Washington, Donovan was an offensive analyst for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2016 to 2019. He began his coaching career with Villanova and Georgia Tech before coaching at Maryland for ten seasons. In 2011 he accepted his first offensive coordinator position with Vanderbilt, and accepted the Penn State position for two years after that.

Washington will now look to begin their first season with new head coach Kalen DeBoer on the right foot. DeBoer took over the program after two seasons as the coach of Fresno State. The Huskies’ last Pac-12 Championship came in 2018, where they earned a Rose Bowl appearance against Ohio State — a game they lost 28-23 despite outscoring the Buckeyes by 20 points in the fourth quarter.