Albert A. "Luby" DiMeolo (October 27, 1903 – June 17, 1966) 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. He was the second ever

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

(later renamed the Steelers) of 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 ...

. He coached the Pirates during their second season of . He was born in

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

, but lived nearly his entire life in

Coraopolis, Pennsylvania Coraopolis () is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The population was 5,559 at the 2020 census. In 1940, the population peaked at 11,086. Coraopolis is located west of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River and to the east of the Pittsburg ...

, just west of

Pittsburgh 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 ...

. DiMeolo was a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on the 1929

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

team that was undefeated before losing in the 1930 Rose Bowl to

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. Upon graduating from Pittsburgh, DiMeolo served as

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

coach at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

under head coach

Chick Meehan John Francis "Chick" Meehan (September 5, 1893 – November 9, 1972) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Syracuse University (1920–1924), New York University (1925–1931), and Manhattan Colleg ...

and later

Howard Cann Howard Goodsell Cann (October 11, 1895 – December 18, 1992) was an American sportsman best known as the long-time men's basketball coach at New York University. He was also an Olympic shot putter and a college basketball and football player. ...

. When the Pittsburgh Pirates joined the NFL in , DiMeolo was rumored to be the leading candidate to become the team's initial

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

. He was passed over for the job in favor of

Jap Douds Forrest McCreery "Jap" Douds (April 21, 1905 – August 16, 1979) was an All-American football player at Washington and Jefferson College in suburban Washington, Pennsylvania, where he was selected as an All-American three times and was the firs ...

, who lasted just a single season as the team's coach. DiMeolo replaced Douds for the team's second season. He led the Pirates to a disappointing 2–10 record in his first season, after which he was dismissed. After leaving the Pirates, DiMeolo returned to the

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

ranks as an assistant coach at

Westminster College (Pennsylvania) Westminster College is a private liberal arts college in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The student population is approximately 1,307 undergraduate and graduate students. Histo ...

and later at

Carnegie Tech Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

. He joined the

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

during World War II and served as a physical instructor, rising to the rank of

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

. After leaving the navy, DiMeolo worked in the Pennsylvania state Department of Commerce, before losing his position due to a change in the political party running the government. He was shortly thereafter named a

U.S. Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...

for western Pennsylvania. He served as Marshal until 1961, after which he worked for

U.S. Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...

. DiMeolo was married to Amelia Ann Sciliano; the couple had no children. He died at the age of 62 of a heart attack which occurred shortly after he had completed a game of

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

in 1966.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimeolo, Luby 1903 births 1966 deaths American football guards Carnegie Mellon Tartans football coaches NYU Violets football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football players Pittsburgh Pirates (football) players Pittsburgh Pirates (football) coaches Westminster Titans football coaches United States Marshals Players of American football from Youngstown, Ohio Pittsburgh Pirates head coaches