Typically in the sports scene when there’s a descendant of a talented player or coach, the expectations for that kid to be like or better than his father becomes a topic of discussion.
We’ve seen it with NBA hall of famer Michael Jordan and his son, Marcus or NFL All-Pro rusher Fred Taylor and his son, Kelvin. Now the same has come for head coach Billy Donovan’s son.
Since the beginning of this season, Billy Donovan Jr., has considered taking another profession into his life – coaching.
But Donovan Jr., is still on the Florida Gators roster for the second consecutive season and although he doesn’t see the court much or at all, he helps the team in every way he can. He is now grasping his love for the game and a possible desire to coach it.
“Against the wishes of his mother, yes it is,” coach Donovan said of his son. “That’s what he wants to do. He does, he wants to coach.”
Donovan Jr., is already taking the steps to approach his wish of becoming a coach and he’s committing to learning in many different aspects.
“A man of many traits. He’s doing a little bit of everything,” coach Donovan said. “He’s practicing sometimes, very little, doing some film work for us spending a lot of time with those guys, if we need him we use him, but if not it’s been a good year for him so far that he’s getting a chance to experience a lot of different things right now.”
On Friday night’s exhibition game against Barry University, Donovan Jr., wasn’t dressed to play, he didn’t come out for warm ups and he wasn’t even sitting on the bench with the rest of the roster. Instead he was in the team’s film room analyzing and breaking down the game with Chris Walker who was suspended for the first three games.
But this hasn’t been the only occasion Donovan Jr., has been already getting experience to get the jumpstart for his own coaching career.
“He’s just available when we need him so he was doing some film breakdown in the back, you know with the video guys to get stuff ready after the game,” coach Donovan said. “That’s helpful, he’s been doing some film breakdowns of practices and those kind of things. He can help out in practice when he can. He’s obviously on the roster he can play, but I didn’t think he was going to play tonight (Friday) and he can help us out in different ways.”
Considering how challenging it can be to coach at a premier program or rise up in the ranks of even becoming a head coach, Donovan Jr., can learn from his father’s resume.
From once being the graduate assistant coach and associate coach in 1989 and 1993 respectively with Kentucky, to then being the head coach at Marshall for two seasons and being a tenured coach at Florida for 19 years is something to learn from.
By just taking a look at his father’s timeline, Donovan Jr., still is undecided on what level he wants to coach, but his father believes this profession is very rewarding and one you need passion for.
“I think there were some things early on in his college experience that had him interested in some other things, but he’s kind of really gravitating back toward basketball and coaching,” coach Donovan said. “And he appears to have that passion and if he does, I think you can really make a great impact and I think it brings great value into your life in many different ways.”
With this season and Donovan Jr., getting first-hand experience, it is uncertain if he will suit up for certain games or not for the rest of the season. But what is known is the choice he’ll like to take his career and with that will come the expectations of being as successful his father has been.