Aldo Teo "Buff" Donelli (July 22, 1907 – August 9, 1994) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pittsbu ...

from 1939 to 1942,

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

from 1947 to 1956, and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

from 1957 to 1967, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coaching record of 105–107–8. Donelli was also a head coach in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), with 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 ...

for part of the 1941 season and with the

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to 194 ...

in 1944, tallying a career mark of 4–11 in the NFL. From 1951 to 1955 he was the

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

at Boston University. Donelli played college football at Duquesne and was an assistant football coach at his alma mater from 1930 to 1938, before being promoted to head coach. He played soccer with a number of clubs in the 1920s and 1930s and was a member of the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...

during the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...

. He is a member of the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

Soccer

Club

In 1925, Donelli played for

Morgan F.C. Morgan F.C. was an early twentieth century U.S. soccer team from Morgan, Pennsylvania. Morgan is located in South Fayette Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The team became known as Morgan Strasser after Peter Strasser purchased it. Histo ...

, a western Pennsylvania soccer team. At some point, he moved to Cleveland Slavia, playing for them at least the winter of 1929–30. In January and February 1934, he is listed with Curry Silver Tops and then Heidelberg SC from February to April 1936. He also played for Castle Shannon in March 1938.

National team

Donelli was selected to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

team. In a 4–2 qualifying victory over

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Rome, Italy , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg ...

on May 24, he tallied all four times, becoming the first American to score his first three international goals with the senior team in the same match (

Sacha Kljestan Sacha Bryan Kljestan (; born September 9, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. Youth and college Kljestan was raised in Huntington Beach, California, and played for th ...

would become the second to achieve this feat on January 24, 2009). Three days later in the same stadium, Donelli scored the lone U.S. goal in its 7–1 first-round elimination loss to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It would be the last one any American scored on Italian turf for another 56 years, and also the only

Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

to score against Italy. He was inducted into U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1954.

Football

College

Donelli, who played

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, was a halfback and punter. He went on to coach Duquesne University,

, and the

and

of the

Duquesne, NFL

Donelli took over as Duquesne head coach in 1939, compiling a 29–4–2 record as the Dukes finished in the top ten twice in four seasons. His tenure at his alma mater also gave him a place in the history books as the only man to serve as head coach of both a college and NFL team simultaneously. Donelli served as head coach of the

during the

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

fall campaign on the bluff of Duquesne University. The Dukes were on their way to an undefeated season in 1941 and after the Steelers lost their first two games coach (and later NFL Commissioner)

Bert Bell De Benneville "Bert" Bell (February 25, 1895 – October 11, 1959) was the National Football League (NFL) commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he introduced competitive parity into the NFL to improve the league's comme ...

resigned, having Donelli replace him. Aldo would coach the Steelers in the morning during classes at Duquesne University and then the Dukes in the afternoon. Although his college team finished undefeated, the Steelers lost all five games under Donelli. He also coached the

for a single season (

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

) attaining a 4–6 record.

Boston University and Columbia

Donelli continued on to coach at

from 1947 to 1956 with a 46–34–4 record and again placing a season in the top 25 poll. In 1957, he was named the head coach at

where he would serve until 1967 compiling a 30–76–4 record. In 1961, he coached Columbia to its only

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

championship.

Other accomplishments

Donelli was a founding member of

Alpha Phi Delta Alpha Phi Delta (), commonly referred to as APD, is a Fraternities and sororities, Greek social fraternity that evolved from an exclusive Italian society, initially known as ''Il Circolo Italiano'' ("The Italian circle"), established at Syracuse U ...

, Psi chapter, the national Italian heritage fraternity, at Duquesne University on March 19, 1929. Donelli received his business degree from Duquesne University in 1930 and his graduate business degree in 1931. Donelli was drafted into the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for a short time during the last year of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s after semi-retiring from coaching, he worked in public relations for PGA events around Boston while keeping homes in suburban Pittsburgh and then eventually Florida.

Honors

's weight room is named in Donelli's honor.

Head coaching record

College

Professional

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donelli, Aldo 1907 births 1994 deaths American football halfbacks American football punters American soccer players Association football forwards Boston University Terriers athletic directors Boston University Terriers football coaches Castle Shannon SC players Cleveland Rams coaches Cleveland Slavia players Columbia Lions football coaches Duquesne Dukes athletic directors Duquesne Dukes football coaches Duquesne Dukes football players Morgan F.C. players Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Pittsburgh Steelers players St. Louis Rams coaches United States men's international soccer players 1934 FIFA World Cup players National Soccer Hall of Fame members United States Navy personnel of World War II People from South Fayette Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Fort Lauderdale, Florida Players of American football from Pennsylvania Soccer players from Pennsylvania American people of Italian descent Cleveland Rams head coaches Pittsburgh Steelers head coaches