URI professor excels on field and in classroom
Photo contributed by: harrington.uri.edu
Before taking up part-time teaching at the University of Rhode Island, Donald Coyne’s 26-year sports broadcasting career saw him cover some of the biggest sporting events in New England sports history.
From Patriots playoff games to the NBA Finals to the infamous “snow bowl”, Coyne had done it all, and now brings his knowledge and experience to Rhody.
Coyne eventually left the industry in 2011 as the 2nd-longest serving TV personality in Rhode Island as a native Rhode Islander.
During his time as a student at URI, Coyne served as the sports director at WRIU, beginning at the end of his freshman year. While traveling with the basketball team, he made connections that eventually led him to land his first news internship at WPRI 12 in Rhode Island.
Coyne impressed during his first semester at channel 12, and was asked to return for a second semester. After turning down the offer to pursue an interest in sports, Coyne was eventually offered the first ever sports intern position at WPRI 12.
After graduating from URI in 1983, Coyne continued his work with channel 12, eventually taking a paid position. In 1986, he covered his first Patriots playoff game, an upset win over the LA Raiders. After obtaining press passes and taking film from the game, unbeknownst to the station, Coyne flew back to Rhode Island and presented his work.
His efforts earned him a 30-minute feature on channel 12, as well as a trip to the Patriots’ first-ever AFC Championship game in Miami. He went on to cover the Patriots’ first Super Bowl appearance that year, beginning a stretch of 29 of 30 Patriots playoff appearances that he covered.
Coyne began anchoring part-time in March of 1986, before taking a full time position the following year. He stayed at channel 12 for four years, before starting at ABC 6 at the end of 1991. He worked full time at channel 6 from 1994 until 2011, when he eventually left television.
Overall, Coyne has covered seven Super Bowls, five NBA Finals, the Final Four and the Stanley Cup Finals, among many others, according to the Harrington School website. He was also the only reporter behind the field goal in Foxborough during Adam Vinatieri’s 45-yard winning field goal in the “snow bowl” game of 2002, which eventually launched the Patriots’ first Super Bowl-winning run. Coyne’s standup from that night was even recently featured in an ESPN “30-for-30” documentary on the game.
After a successful TV career, Coyne returned to where it all began, becoming a part-time professor at URI. Enticed by the potential of a new sports media major, Coyne taught his first J-term journalism class in 2014, where students created their own TV show. Eventually, Coyne began teaching more classes as the sports media major was officially introduced in 2019, including COM 204: Introduction to Sports Broadcasting.
“He’s been fantastic for the sports media program,” Kevin McClure, a program advisor for sports media at URI, said. “It’s been great to have someone with his experience delivering a course like that. That’s the advantage of bringing in professionals for professional type courses, they bring that real-word experience with them.”
After so many years of professional experience, Coyne is aiming to share the realities of the fiercely competitive industry with his students.
“[I hope to] give them a real world look at it, and understand that it’s not easy, that you need to start working on your skills and in the field immediately, as soon as you get to URI,” Coyne said. “If you want to be successful in the field, it’s going to take years and years of work, it’s very rewarding if so.”
In 2022, the sports media program is in its third year of existence as a major, and is growing rapidly in size, according to McClure. As interest in the field continues to grow in Rhode Island, Don Coyne’s 26-year sportscasting career will continue to be a source of professional experience and knowledge that will prove valuable for students for years to come.