UW Football | Donatell deal is done

Although Ed Donatell has spent only two of the 28 years of his coaching career at the University of Washington, he said he considers UW home.

"This is a dream come true," he said Thursday after being named Washington's new defensive coordinator.

Now comes the task of repairing a defense that had a nightmare of a season in 2007.

Donatell replaces Kent Baer, who was fired Dec. 17 in the wake of UW's fourth consecutive losing season, one in which the Huskies gave up a school-record 446.6 yards per game.

His hiring ended a six-week search that included Washington heavily courting UCLA's DeWayne Walker before he decided to stay put with new Bruins coach Rick Neuheisel.

"The process has shown great patience," said Huskies coach Tyrone Willingham. "I couldn't have been more excited about the hire, and on top of that, he does have what I would call a Husky background and a love and an affection for the place you will see in the way he carries himself and communicates with our young men."

Donatell worked at UW in 1981 and 1982 as a graduate assistant under Don James. During that time, he met his wife, Shari, a native of Aberdeen and the granddaughter of Victor Morrison, who played on the 1916 Huskies team.

"As a young guy, this was the only place I wanted to be," Donatell said.

Instead, he went on to a lengthy career in college coaching and the NFL. He has worked for four NFL teams since 1990, including stints as defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers (2000-03) and Atlanta Falcons (2004-06), the latter under Jim Mora. Mora, now the Seahawks' assistant head coach, first met Donatell when Mora was a player during Donatell's time as a Huskies graduate assistant.

"The guy has tremendous energy," Mora said Thursday. "He is very innovative, and those players will take to him immediately. They will trust him, and you will see an aggressive, passionate, flying-around defense. I'm excited about it."

The connection between Mora and Donatell has raised some eyebrows, given rumors that swirled last season about Mora being the successor to Willingham if the Huskies had made a change.

Said Mora: "There's no connection to me in terms of this one. He did what is best for him and his family, and the University of Washington and Tyrone made a great decision in hiring him."

Donatell agreed to a two-year contract worth $334,000 a season, making him the highest-paid assistant in school history.

His hiring apparently solidifies UW's defensive staff. Donatell said the other three coaches — defensive line coach Randy Hart, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator Chris Tormey and secondary coach J.D. Williams — will remain.

After being let go by Atlanta when Mora was fired as coach following the 2006 season, Donatell worked for the New York Jets this fall as a special assistant to coach Eric Mangini. There, he said he got a "Ph.D." in the 3-4 defense, after having used primarily the 4-3 in his career.

Donatell said it was too early yet to say exactly what defense Washington will run this season. But he said he expects UW will run 3-4 and 4-3 alignments.

"I always think players, then plays," Donatell said. "We will mix both packages no matter what because it's harder on the offense."

Donatell acknowledged that he will have to get used to recruiting — having not done it since 1989 — as well as the more varied offenses in college. But Willingham and Mora said that, because of Donatell's ability to adapt, it shouldn't be a problem.

"Ed has a great ability to adjust to the talent that he has," Mora said. "So whatever he decides to do, it will fit the players that he has in place."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com