Albert P. Bruno (March 28, 1927 – October 5, 2014) was an American

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

player, administrator, and coach who served as the head coach of the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

from 1983 to 1990.

Early life

He was born in 1927 in

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Located within the Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,461 at the 2010 census. West Chester is the mailing address for most of its neighb ...

. A graduate of West Chester High School and

The Perkiomen School , motto_translation = It is solved by living , address = 200 Seminary St , location = , region = , city = Pennsburg , county = Montgomery , state ...

, Bruno attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

from 1948 to 1951. He played

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

Kentucky Wildcats football The Kentucky Wildcats football program represents the University of Kentucky in the sport of American football. The Wildcats compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern D ...

team, played forward for the Wildcats basketball team, and was a member of the track team. In his senior season, Bruno caught 38 passes for 589 yards and 10 touchdowns and was named third-team All America by both AP and UPI. His single-season school record for receiving yards stood until 1964 and his single-season record for touchdown receptions held until 1998. Bruno played nine games during the Wildcats 1948–49 championship winning basketball season, averaging 2.2 points per game. Bruno is one of only three Wildcats to have played for Hall of Fame coaches

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

in football and

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Univ ...

in basketball.

Playing career

Bruno was drafted by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

in the third round of the

1951 NFL Draft The 1951 National Football League Draft was held January 18–19, 1951, at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. The Baltimore Colts folded after the 1950 season, and the NFL placed their players in the 1951 NFL draft. This was the fifth year that th ...

, but chose to play for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

instead. He played two seasons for the Argonauts, one game for the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

, two seasons with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

, and three seasons with the

London Lords The London Lords were a Canadian football team of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, from London, Ontario. They played their home games at Labatt Park. They won the last Ontario Rugby Football Union The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an e ...

before a serious knee injury ended his playing career.

Coaching career

Bruno's coaching career began in 1958 a player-coach for the London Lords. After his playing career ended, he returned to Pennsylvania to teach and coach football at his alma mater West Chester High School. In 1966, he returned to Canada as an assistant coach with the

. He left the Riders in 1968 and joined the coaching staff of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. When head coach

Joe Restic Joseph William Restic (July 21, 1926 – December 8, 2011) was an American gridiron football player and coach. He served as the head coach for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 1968 to 1970 and as the head football ...

left to become head coach at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, Bruno went with him to be the offensive coordinator. After 11 seasons as the Crimson's offensive coordinator, Bruno returned to Hamilton as Director of Player Personnel. In 1983, Bruno was named head coach after the firing of

Bud Riley Edward Jones "Bud" Riley Jr. (November 25, 1925 – August 4, 2012) was an American college football coach who served as an assistant coach at the University of Idaho and Oregon State University. Riley also spent 14 seasons in the Canadian Footb ...

. The Tiger-Cats finished the season 2–1–1 and Bruno was given the coaching job permanently. Under Bruno's guidance, the Tiger-Cats appeared in the

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

four times, winning one (

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

). He was placed on an indefinite leave of absence after suffering a mild heart attack during the 1987 season. Defensive Coordinator Ted Schmitz served as interim head coach for six games before Bruno returned. Bruno was fired 12 games into the 1990 season. At the time of his firing the Tiger-Cats had a 4–8 record and were on a five-game losing streak. After scouting for the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

and the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

, Bruno was named the head coach of the New Mexico Rattlesnakes of the new

Professional Spring Football League The Professional Spring Football League (PSFL) was an outdoor american football minor league slated to begin in 1992. The league had a preview show on SportsChannel America in late 1991/early 1992, laying out the ten teams that would play. The ...

. The PSFL folded before play began. Bruno's final coaching job was at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

, where he served as head coach from 1994 to 1996. After his football career, Bruno and his wife, Marie, retired to

Port Charlotte, Florida Port Charlotte is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. The population was 54,392 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Punta Gorda, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Port C ...

Death

In October 2014, Bruno was admitted into a Port Charlotte hospital with kidney problems, after having lost one kidney several years prior. He died of heart failure at the hospital on October 5, 2014.

Head coaching record

CFL

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruno, Al 1927 births 2014 deaths American football ends American men's basketball players American players of Canadian football Forwards (basketball) Buffalo Bills scouts Canadian Football League executives Hamilton Tiger-Cats coaches Harvard Crimson football coaches Kentucky Wildcats football players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Ontario Rugby Football Union players Toronto Argonauts coaches College men's track and field athletes in the United States High school football coaches in Pennsylvania People from West Chester, Pennsylvania People from Punta Gorda, Florida Sportspeople from Chester County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Pennsylvania