Alfred J. "A.J." Pagano is a former college football player for

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...

. During his playing career, he was one of the most prominent NCAA Division III football players, gaining national attention and honors. He attended

Knoch High School Knoch High School is located in the Knoch School District in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania. The school mascot is a knight, referring to them as; the "Knoch Knights". The Knoch Football team was a co-champion of the Greater Allegheny Conference in 20 ...

, graduating in 1984. He was a leader of Knoch's

Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) is an interscholastic athletic association in Western Pennsylvania. It is District 7 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. History The Western Pennsylvania Inte ...

championship in 1983. He attended

, majoring in business, where he played for the football team. He helped bring the Washington & Jefferson football team back to prominence; his success as a running back is credited with helping to improve recruiting efforts. In his freshman year, he led the Presidents to the NCAA Division III playoffs, their first post-season appearance since the

1922 Rose Bowl The 1922 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 2, 1922, between the Washington & Jefferson Presidents football, Washington & Jefferson Presidents (W&J) and the 1921 California Golden Bears football team, California Golden B ...

. He played multiple roles for the Presidents, gaining the nickname of "Mr. Everything." By his sophomore year, his

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

John Luckhardt John Luckhardt is a former American football player and coach. He was the head football coach at California University of Pennsylvania in California, Pennsylvania from 2002 to 2011. Luckhardt coached at Washington & Jefferson College from 1982 t ...

said that he was already among the greatest running backs in college history. During his career, he led the team to three

Presidents' Athletic Conference The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 11 current member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, nine are located in Western Pennsylvania. Th ...

(PAC) Championships and four appearances in the NCAA Division III playoffs He was a named to the All-PAC team four times (1984–1987). He was named PAC MVP and All-American twice. At the end of his college career, he was second in

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

history in total scoring, with 261 points. In July 1988, he was signed by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He was cut later that year, returning to his hometown to help manage his family's

flooring Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface ...

business. He now resides in Butler, Pennsylvania where he is married with one son. He currently holds the college record for all purpose yards in a single game (357), as well as other rushing records. He was inducted into the Washington & Jefferson Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagano, A. J. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American football running backs Pittsburgh Steelers players Washington & Jefferson Presidents football players People from Butler County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania