Mickey Donovan
Special Teams Coordinator
Donovan has been the Alouettes’ Special Teams Coordinator since 2018. In 2019, Donovan helped kicker Boris Bede maintain his best career average of 44.6 yards per punt. The Toulon, FR native made 31 of his 35 field goal attempts that season and his 88.6% success rate put him second in the CFL. The former Université Laval Rouge et Or forced opposing offences to start 12 series from inside their own 10-yard line, which ranked him second in the league. He also led the CFL with a 70.1-yard average on kickoffs, which is the highest total in CFL history.
In addition, Donovan’s special teams led the league in yardage per punt return with an average of 12.5 yards per return. Returner Mario Alford scored two punt-return touchdowns in his first two games with the team, adding a major on a 99-yard kickoff return, the 3rd longest kickoff return touchdown in CFL playoff history.
Previously, the Laconia, NH native was the Concordia University Stingers’ Head Coach since 2014. In his first season, he led the Stingers to a 6-4 record and a playoff berth, after the team had won only one game in two seasons. That allowed him to be voted the conference’s coach of the year. He began his coaching career in 2007 at Western University, where he coached the linebackers, while also being in charge of special teams as well as recruitment.
In 2011 and 2013, he was a guest coach at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Toronto Argonauts training camps. In 2011 he was the Defensive Coordinator for McGill University. Donovan enjoyed a successful career as a linebacker from 2002 to 2004 at Concordia University. In 2004, he won the President’s Trophy, awarded to the best defensive player in the country. He was voted an All-Canadian twice during his university career.