Coach Don James looms large — in bronze, in influence, in Husky lore
At 8½ feet, the bronze statue of legendary Husky Football Coach Don James still doesn’t stand nearly as tall as the ongoing legacy of his 18 years at Washington.
The sculpture was funded by $150,000 in donations from more than 350 Husky student-athlete alumni, former coaches, and friends who were inspired by the man who led Washington to a national championship in 1991 and to four Rose Bowl victories in his 153–57–2 career.
Former safety Jimmy Rodgers, a member of Coach James’ storied Purple Reign team in the 1980s, helped lead the fundraising charge.
“We really wanted it to be a team-driven effort,” Jimmy explains. “Coach’s motto was always, ‘It’s amazing what gets done when nobody claims credit’. If the players got behind it, the only name on the statue would be Don’s.”
Under a brilliant blue sky on a crisp autumn afternoon, the dedication ceremony outside the northwest gate to Husky Stadium drew treasured memories from a celebratory crowd that included the coach’s widow, Carol James, and 20 other members of the James family.
“If you are here, you likely were touched in some way by Don James, who in an 18-year-run moved Washington to the very forefront of college football. Chances are, you have already built a statue of the coach in your mind and certainly in your heart,” longtime Husky announcer Bob Rondeau said at the event. “This beautiful work is an affirmation, a tangible reminder, a monument to someone who was and always will be monumental.”
For fans past and present, the statue will serve as what long-time Husky announcer Bob Rondeau called, “an affirmation, a tangible reminder, a monument to someone who was and always will be monumental.”
