When Jim Donnan was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame on Thursday, many football fans across the state's collegiate spectrum very likely were thinking what might have been.
During a coaching career that produced a 104-40-1 record at Marshall and Georgia, the door was open at various times for the former N.C. State star quarterback to take over the programs at his alma mater, plus North Carolina and East Carolina.
The closest Donnan came was after Mack Brown's departure from UNC for Texas after the 1997 season.
That the former standout athlete at Burlington wanted to return wasn't ever in question. But the pieces just never came together, as Donnan put it this week.
After meeting with Carolina officials, Donnan returned to Georgia, where his 9-2 team was preparing for a bowl game against Wisconsin. The Bulldogs won that one, 33-6, with Donnan still in the fold.
Carolina went with former Brown assistant Carl Torbush and smashed Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl to finish 11-1.
"You always think 'what if?' and I still do that a lot," Donnan said. "But you can't go back now."
At Georgia, Donnan coached three more seasons, going 9-3, 8-4, 8-4, but was ousted during a power struggle between school president Michael Adams and athletic director Vince Dooley.
Although numerous jobs were offered, Donnan never coached another game.
At Carolina, Torbush lasted three seasons before giving way to John Bunting.
Now 65, Donnan still understands the complexities of in-state football as thoroughly as anyone.
"The formula hasn't changed much at all," he said. "It's still almost impossible for one of the five schools to get the percentage of the talent in the region that you need.
"I always said recruiting this state was about as competitive as anywhere you can find. The talent's here, but it's always been just about impossible for one of the schools to sign enough of it at one time."
As the recruiting director on Bill Dooley's Carolina staffs during much of the 1970s, Donnan helped the Tar Heels come close to cornering the market. Dooley's '76 and '77 teams went 17-6-1 and 9-1-1 in the ACC at a time when Duke and State combined to record non-league wins at Tennessee, Miami and Auburn and ECU's option offense under Pat Dye was among the most explosive in the country.
"I always thought that was the golden opportunity for an in-state school to really move into the national top 10 and stay there for a long time," Donnan said. "There were a lot of kids that suddenly got interested in playing high school football and the eastern half of Virginia was loaded with talent."
To an extent, Donnan thinks the same opportunity could be developing again.
"State's got a great situation with Russell Wilson at quarterback, because he's such a special player that he change an entire game with just two or three plays," Donnan said. "UNC's recruiting very well again, and I thought Skip Holtz did just a terrific job getting ECU back up there."
Although Donnan still resides in Athens, Ga., and dabbles in national television and radio work, he said he follows the North Carolina teams just as much as did when he worked in the state.
"That breakthrough season is going to happen for one of these teams around here at some point," he said. "I know some people think it'll never happen, but I do. That's something I've always been convinced can and will happen."
