Edward A. Donahue, the football and baseball team captain at Washington and Lee, graduated and went on to have a successful career in intercollegiate athletics and professional sports. His nickname was “Jiggs,” and while at W&L, he also became an initiated member of Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity.
Although Donahue only played professional baseball for one year, he spent the majority of his career as a coach. After graduating from W&L, he first coached at his alma mater before he worked as the head coach for the Clemson University football, baseball, track, and basketball teams. He also served as the school’s athletic director for a time. Donahue also served on the football staff at Case Western Reserve University.
He was noted for having coached seven minor league baseball teams during his career. Donahue’s first professional baseball coaching job was with the Dover Senators – a team for which he played during 1924. His last baseball coaching assignment was with the Hollywood (Florida) Chiefs. He also coached football at St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts.
He died in 1961 at the age of 70.
Sources
Nichols, Michael. (2014). The Laurel Crowned Circle: Omicron Delta Kappa and 100 Years of Leadership. Omicron Delta Kappa. Lexington, Va.
