Donahue Already Friendly With New USC Rival

The naming of Larry Smith as football coach at USC will add a new dimension to the USC-UCLA rivalry.

UCLA Coach Terry Donahue is one of Smith’s closest friends. Donahue was one of the first people Smith called early Friday morning--hours before USC had made it official that he was replacing Ted Tollner.

“I wished him good luck and told him I’d be seeing him along the recruiting trail,” Donahue said. “He seemed to be excited and very pleased at getting the USC job. I told my colleagues (at UCLA) some time ago that it would be Larry Smith. I had a feeling that Larry would get the job because I knew he was very qualified and had the qualities that (USC athletic director) Mike McGee was looking for.”

Smith laughed when asked if he’d called Donahue before he took the USC job.

“Yes, I did,” Smith said. “And he told me to stay away.”

Donahue, 42, met Smith, 46, at coaches’ meetings in 1976, after both had become head coaches for the first time in the same year, Donahue at UCLA and Smith at Tulane. Then a chance encounter about five years ago, shortly after Smith had taken the Arizona job, changed the relationship from that of friendly rivals to close friends.

“We were down in San Diego one summer, vacationing with the kids, when we went to Sea World and ran into the Smiths, quite by accident,” Donahue recalled. “They were on vacation, too, so we went out to dinner together that night.

“The families hit it off right away, and we invited them to our place the next day so we could introduce them to surfing. We had some boogie boards and had a great time together for a couple of days, riding the waves.

“The friendship grew, our wives and kids became good friends, and that’s the way it’s been ever since. We enjoy each other’s company, without all the pressure you get with some people. We have fun together whenever we get the chance.”

Donahue said he enjoyed coaching against Smith at Arizona and that he expects no change now that his friend is at traditional rival USC.

“The fierce competitive rivalry between our schools and our teams won’t change,” Donahue said. “I’ve always had a good relationship with the SC coaches, although I didn’t know either John Robinson or Ted Tollner the way I know Larry. I hit it off with Robinson and I hit it off with Tollner, but with Larry it’s more than a coaching friendship. We socialize together with our families.

“It will be interesting to see what happens when our teams meet on the field for the championship of Los Angeles.”

In six meetings between UCLA and Arizona, Donahue has won three times and Smith twice. The other game was a tie.