Don Doll

Donald LeRoy Doll (August 29, 1926 – September 22, 2010), also known as Don Burnside, was an American professional football player and coach.

Doll played college football for the USC Trojans (1944, 1946–1948) and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the Detroit Lions (1949–1953), Washington Redskins (1954) and Los Angeles Rams (1955). He was selected to play in each of the first four Pro Bowls and was named the Most Valuable Player in the 1952 season Pro Bowl. He played safety on the 1952 Detroit Lions team that won the NFL championship. He tied an NFL record in 1949 with four interceptions in a single game and is the only player in NFL history to have 10 or more interceptions in each of three different seasons (1949, 1950 and 1953). When he retired at the end of the 1954 season, he was 2nd in the all-time list with 41 interceptions.

After retiring as a player, Doll worked as a football coach for 34 years, serving as the head coach at West Contra Costa Junior College in 1956 and as an assistant coach with the University of Washington (1955), USC (1957–1958), Notre Dame (1959–1962), Detroit Lions (1963–1964), Los Angeles Rams (1965), Washington Redskins (1966–1970), Green Bay Packers (1971–1973), Baltimore Colts (1974), Miami Dolphins (1975–1976), San Francisco 49ers (1977) and Detroit Lions (1978–1988). During his NFL career, he was associated with the game's legendary coaches, as a player for Curly Lambeau and an assistant coach under Vince Lombardi and Don Shula.

Early life Doll attended Grant Union High School in Sacramento, California, where he was an all-league quarterback. Doll was also named Cal-Hi Sports State Player of the Year for football in 1943. He is one of only four Sacramento-area players to earn the honor.

USC and military service Doll played halfback (both offensive and defensive) at the University of Southern California from 1944 to 1948, though he did not play in 1945 while serving in the military. He led the Trojans in rushing three times—in 1944, 1947 and 1948. He also led the team in receptions and scoring in 1948. He played the 1944 season under his birth name, Don Burnside. In the 1944 season opener against UCLA, Doll had an immediate impact. He played halfback on both offense and defense (the norm in 1944), intercepting a Bob Waterfield pass and returning it 16 yards to the UCLA 22-yard line. On the next play, the Trojans again gave the ball to Doll who ran 20 yards to the 2-yard line. Two plays later, Doll scored on a 1-yard run to give USC a 13–0 lead at halftime.

After the season opener, USC coach Jeff Cravath announced that Doll was being switched to the quarterback position for the second game of the season. Despite the experiment, Doll played principally at halfback during the 1944 season. Prior to the final regular season game (a re-match against UCLA), Al Wolf of the Los Angeles Times called him "S.C.'s 18-year-old freshman whiz."

The 1944 Trojans finished the season undefeated with an 8-0-2 record and defeated Tennessee 25–0 in the 1945 Rose Bowl. Doll played 43 minutes in the Rose Bowl and was the game's leading rusher. Los Angeles Times sports writer Braven Dyer wrote that Doll "shouldered the ball carrying burden almost single handedly" in the Rose Bowl.

U.S. Marine Corps After playing in the Rose Bowl game, Doll was inducted into the United States Marine Corps. He served aboard the battleship and was an eyewitness to the Japanese surrender ceremony on the ship's deck on September 2, 1945. Doll had changed his surname from "Burnside" to "Doll" after being discharged from the military.

However, Doll recalled that "sports writers had a field day" with his new name: "When I weaved downfield I was the 'Dancing Doll.' If I took too long on a play, I was the 'Mechanical Doll.'" In the final game of the season, a 20–14 victory over Tulane in New Orleans, Doll had a key interception and return for 34 yards.

1947 season

In 1947, Doll added punting and punt and kickoff return duties to his role as a starting halfback. In October 1947, he was leading the Pacific Coast Conference with an average of 45 yards per punt; he was also leading the Conference with an average of 20 yards on punt returns. One of the highlights of the 1947 season for USC was a 32–0 victory in Columbus, Ohio, over a highly touted Ohio State team. Doll started the Trojans' scoring against the Buckeyes with a 42-yard touchdown run around the left end in the first quarter. Doll's longest gain of the season was a 95-yard kickoff return in a 21–0 victory over Cal.

At the end of the 1947 season, Doll was picked as a first-team back on the United Press All-Coast Conference team.

The 1947 Trojans won the Pacific Coast Conference championship and faced Michigan's famed "Mad Magicians" team in the 1948 Rose Bowl. USC lost the game 49–0, and Doll was one of the few USC players praised for his performance in the game. Sports writer Maxwell Stiles wrote, "Don Doll was a power in the secondary until he was forced out with what was reported to be a broken arm."

1948 season In 1948, Doll played his final season at the left halfback position for USC. He scored the Trojans' only touchdown on a 28-yard run in a 7–0 victory over Rice. The following week, Doll again scored USC's only touchdown, this time in an 8–7 loss to Oregon. He added two touchdowns in a 32–7 win over Washington.

At the end of the 1948 season, Doll was selected as a first-team halfback on the Associated Press All-Pacific Coast Team. He was also selected as the halfback and punter for the West team in the 1948 East–West Shrine Game.

Professional football player Doll was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 9th round (67th overall pick) of the 1948 NFL draft and signed a one-year contract with the team in February 1949. He played as a defensive back for the Lions for four years from 1949 to 1952. He was selected as an All-Pro player in his first three seasons in the NFL (1949–1951). He was also selected four times to play in the Pro Bowl (1950–1953). Doll still holds the record for most interception return yards by a rookie, and it is one of the oldest remaining records in the NFL.

Doll also led the NFL in 1949 with 536 kickoff return yards.

1950 season In his second season in the NFL, Doll snagged 12 interceptions in 11 games, one interception short of the NFL record of 13 interceptions set by Dan Sandifer in 1948.

At the end of the 1950 season, Doll was selected as a first-team All-Pro for the second straight year and was also selected to appear in his first Pro Bowl. Doll played safety on the 1952 Detroit Lions team that won the NFL championship. Though the 1952 Lions team is remembered mostly for the offensive output of Bobby Layne, the defense included Doll and Les Bingaman and led the NFL in both scoring defense and rush defense.

In 2008, Doll was selected as a member of the Lions' 75th Season All-Time Team, recognizing him as "one of franchise's greatest players." Doll concluded his playing career with the Rams and had five interceptions in 1954.

Coaching career Doll retired from playing football in 1955 and worked for the next 34 years as a football coach.

In 1955, Doll was hired as an assistant coach at the University of Washington under head coach John Cherberg. Doll was put in charge of defensive backs for the Huskies. During his one year at Washington, the Huskies had the 10th best passing defense in the country, allowing only 60 yards per game in passing yards.

In 1956, Doll accepted a head coaching position at West Contra Costa Junior College. Prior to the 1959 game between USC and Notre Dame, Braven Dyer warned in the Los Angeles Times that the man who had "mapped SC's secondary defense" was "now in the camp of the enemy." Notre Dame defeated USC in 1959 by a score of 16–6. Doll was Notre Dame's backfield coach throughout Kuharich's tenure which ended after the 1962 season.

In January 1963, Doll was hired by the Detroit Lions as their defensive backfield coach. Doll, who was then 36 years old, replaced Don Shula, who left the Lions coaching staff to become the head coach of the Baltimore Colts.

In January 1965, Doll was hired by the Los Angeles Rams as their defensive backfield coach under head coach Harland Svare. Doll remained with the Packers for three years from 1971 to 1973. He helped mold the Packers' backfield into what The New York Times called "one of the National Football League's stingiest pass defenses." In 1972, the Packers had the best pass defense in the NFL. In 1973, the defense lost All-Pro cornerback Willie Buchanon to a broken leg in the sixth game of the season, but still finished as the fifth best pass defense in the NFL. In January 1974, the Packers announced that Doll had resigned "because of personal problems", but it was later revealed that he was fired by Devine due to a personality conflict and disagreements over defensive strategy. On learning of Doll's departure, Willie Buchanon said, "It hurts to get news like this. Not only was he a very good coach, but he was someone who we could relate to and get along with. There aren't many people like that." He served in Baltimore under head coaches Howard Schnellenberger (who was head coach for three games) and Joe Thomas. During the 1974 season, the Colts finished 2–12 and allowed 23.5 points per game, second worst in the NFL.

In February 1975, Doll resigned from his position with the Colts to accept a position as linebackers coach with Miami Dolphins under head coach Don Shula, who Doll had replaced in Detroit in 1963. Doll served as the Dolphins' linebackers coach during the 1975 and 1976 NFL seasons. The Dolphins finished 10–4 in 1975 and allowed 15.8 points per game, fourth best in the NFL. In 1976, the Dolphins dropped to 6–8, allowing 18.8 points per game, ranking 15th out of 28 teams. In January 1977, the Dolphins announced that they were restructuring the defensive coaching staff and would not renew Doll's contract.

In February 1977, Doll was hired as a special assignments coach with the San Francisco 49ers.

In February 1978, Doll returned to the Detroit Lions as special teams coach and film coordinator. In his second stint as an assistant coach for the Lions, Doll served 11 years from 1978 through 1988. In 1988, after 10 years in one city, Doll noted, "It's kind of nice, staying in one place for a while."

Later years, family and death Doll was married in the early 1950s to Diana Davies, a graduate of UCLA. After their wedding, she became Diana Davies Doll, and Doll joked with a reporter in 1954 that he called her his "Triple-D Dynamo."