by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
There are college sports fans . . . and then there are the Gator Boosters.
Since 1949, the Boosters have been eager to put their money where their allegiance lies and build on an association that is, quite likely, in a league of its own.
“It’s probably the top booster organization in the country,” said President-elect Thomas “Tommy” Donahoo Sr. of Jacksonville. “It may compare to Michigan State or UCLA, but it’s one of the top.”
Enthusiasm for the Boosters has always been strong but it exploded during the Steve Spurrier era, which began in 1990. One measure of that commitment may be found in the rising number of Bull Gators, those Boosters who make an annual contribution of at least $12,000 to the cause.
“Over the last eight or 10 years, the number of Bull Gators went from 200 and just grew rapidly,” said Donahoo. “And at that time, the contribution was $10,000.
“Last year, our Bull Gators went from 422 members to 600.”
The Gator Boosters is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization. It raises money to provide for scholarships, primarily athletic, and for capital improvements, primarily at athletic facilities.
“We have a 50-member board of directors, and we presently have a budget that raises $25 million a year for the athletic coffers,” said Donahoo.
As impressive as that amount is, the task is made more difficult because the Gator Boosters plow the same fund-raising fields — at the same time — as other, similarly dedicated, organizations.
“There’s the University Athletic Association, with Athletic Director Jeremy Foley, and the University of Florida Foundation, a separate nonprofit, tax-exempt entity, headed by Paul Robell, director of the foundation,” said Donahoo. “The Gator Booster Board is led by our executive director, John James.
“All three are out trying to raise money at the same time. It’s important we coordinate all those efforts.”
Donahoo, who will take over the one-year term as president on June 1, is a tax attorney and president of the law firm of Donahoo, Ball & McMenamy. The firm was started in 1938 by his father, the late John W. Donahoo, who served as president of the UF Foundation in 1967 and was a charter member of the Booster Board.
“So it’s kind of nice to think I’m going to be the president next year,” said Donahoo. “That’s a first for the board.”
There is no requirement that Boosters have some formal tie to the university, and many don’t.
“We have a lot of support from folks that never attended a class at the University of Florida,” said Donahoo. “But they love the Florida Gators. That’s their team.
“Maybe they grew up near Gainesville or here in Jacksonville, and they always followed the Florida Gators and their sports programs. They went off to school or some other area but came back and adopted the Gators as their team.
“Former presidents of the Gator Booster Board include Bryant Skinner, and he attended Davidson College and the University of North Carolina. He’s a huge Florida Gator.”
Donahoo was a first-string Greater Jacksonville All-Star quarterback at Lee High School and went to UF on a football scholarship from 1958 to 1962.
“I had several opportunities to go to other schools — Auburn, Georgia, Florida State primarily — but my Dad had gone to Florida, and I had grown up watching the Gators play,” he said. “I had a big dream of being a quarterback at Florida some day.
“My dream was cut short with a pretty serious knee injury after my sophomore year.”
As fate would have it, Donahoo’s jersey number was 11, the same number Steve Spurrier drew when he came to the university.
“I tell folks that this guy Spurrier came along, and, after he played, they retired my number,” laughed Donahoo. “Then they hired him as the coach in 1990, and he took my number out of retirement and put it back because he didn’t believe in his number being retired.
“He and I have laughed over that.”
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in accounting at UF, Donahoo graduated from Cumberland Law School in Birmingham, Ala., and received his tax degree from NYU.
The primary role of the Gator Boosters’ president is to encourage the board’s fund-raising goals. He, or she, presides over four annual meetings, represents the board at other meetings and functions, and gives talks around the state on behalf of the board.
Donahoo will succeed attorney John Frost from Bartow, who is a past president of the Florida Bar.
“It’s a real honor to serve as president of the Gator Boosters,” he said. “Part of it is because of the past leadership, the past presidents from Jacksonville: Bryant Skinner, Rogers “Tiger” Holmes . . . and, more recently, Steve Melnyk.
“It certainly is an honor to be at that level. I’m looking forward to doing my part.”
Donahoo’s acquaintances are certain he will be an outstanding president.
Hank Haynes of Haynes, Peters & Bond Insurance Co. has known Donahoo since he was in the 10th grade at Lee.
“He is the most enthusiastic Gator I’ve ever known,” said Haynes, who went to school at University of the South. “He has really made a rabid Gator out of me.
“His enthusiasm is so contagious that you can’t help but be a Gator.”
The university recently completed a $50 million addition to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with new sky boxes, suites, and Bull Gator seating area and deck.
“So we’ve just come off a tremendous capital improvement campaign,” said Donahoo. “My goal primarily will be to keep everything on track, on schedule and continue to successfully provide that $25 million surplus to the activities of the athletic department.”
It’s easy enough to become a Gator Booster. Contribute. And the more you contribute, the more amenities you get in return.
“The Boosters are fee-paying, dues-paying members,” said Donahoo. “You can be a member for $50, if you like. And that gets you . . . nothing, to tell the truth.
“It’s like every other priority level organization. The more you can contribute to the Gator Boosters, the higher level of seats, tickets and fringe benefits you’re entitled to.”
Tiers for contributors include the Scholarship Club ($4,000-$8,000), Scholarship Partners ($2,000) and Varsity ($1,000).
“An interesting problem we have right now is, with all the Bull Gators, we don’t have enough amenities to satisfy everything they’re entitled to — parking, Florida-Georgia tickets. We’ve basically run out of Florida-Georgia tickets.”
The burst of support for Florida football in particular stems directly from Spurrier, Donahoo said, a man who, understandably, is loved and despised by fans.
“I think it depends on whose side you’re on,” he said. “If you’re with the Gators, everybody loves him. But it’s the other SEC teams. They can’t stand him. They’re fans, and he really irritates them.”
Spurrier’s success “spoiled” Gator fans who probably won’t see another like him for a long time, if ever, Donahoo said.
“I know Steve personally, and he did some wonderful things at Florida . . . primarily winning,” he said. “And the way he won, with lopsided victories and beating great rivals like Georgia and Tennessee by substantial margins.
“We’re not going to have any more of that, and fans can get a little irritated when we win a close game. Or lose some close games.”
Ron Zook is caught up in that reaction, which has made many fans unreasonably impatient. Last weekend’s 24-21 come-from-behind win over Kentucky was the sort of tough win fans may get see more of.
“It’s been a tough season in some respects with the new coach, Ron Zook, in his second year, but, as a group, we are still very supportive of what he’s trying to do,” said Donahoo. “He’s got a four-year contract, and we hope he’ll prove himself during this period of time.
“It’s interesting how impatient our fans can be. Spurrier lost a few games he should have won. Lou Holtz beat him pretty good in the Sugar Bowl in 1992. We were ranked much higher than Notre Dame in that game. Yet the fans recovered quickly for Steve. They’re not recovering quite so quickly for Coach Zook.”
The problem comes when a coach — no matter how capable — follows a legend. Tom Osborne at Nebraska, Bear Bryant at Alabama, Dean Smith at UNC were legends; their sucessions weren’t.
“I remember reading this book by Bobby Bowden, and he said, ‘You never succeed the legendary coach. You succeed the coach that succeeded the legendary coach.’
“I hope that isn’t happening to Zook, but it certainly happens almost everywhere you go.”
In addition to money that goes to the Athletic Association and the Foundation for scholarships and capital improvements, contributions from Gator Boosters go to many nonathletic scholarships — in the music department, arts and sciences, fine arts and the computer labs.
Some funds also go to the Shands Teaching Hospital.
With funding for education taking hits around the state and country, this would be the time for more people to help the Gator Boosters, who help the schools that help the students, Donahoo said.
“Our university’s president, Chuck Young, is facing this dilemma from the Florida Legislature,” he said. “State universities like Florida and Florida State are experiencing cutbacks in the budget.
“People don’t realize how dependent this state university is on private giving, private support. We need to continue doing what we have been doing to continue as an outstanding university. We have to provide education benefits to all deserving students that want to continue their education in the state.”