Anthony R. DeLellis (August 1, 1916 – September 6, 2003) was an American

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 ...

coach. He served as the head coach at

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

in 1946.

Biography

DeLellis played as a halfback and

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

at Loyola Marymount. Because of his diminutive stature, he was once described as "the iron mite of 155 pounds". In 1939,

Mike Pecarovich Michael J. Pecarovich (September 23, 1898 – March 23, 1965) was an American football coach, lawyer, and actor. He served as the head football coach at Loyola University of Los Angeles—now known as Loyola Marymount University—in 1928 and 193 ...

took over as head coach from

Tom Lieb Thomas John Lieb (October 28, 1899 – April 30, 1962) was an American Olympic track and field athlete, an All-American college football player and a multi-sport collegiate coach. Lieb was a Minnesota native and an alumnus of the University ...

and demoted DeLellis to the third string early in the season. However, he worked his way back to the top of the roster.'Cats Slow In Game Prepping
''Prescott Evening Courier'', December 9, 1939. In November, ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' wrote, "on the Loyola side, it became increasingly apparent that just about the best football player, pound for pound, in these parts is little Tony DeLellis." In 1943, DeLellis was hired as football coach at Loyola Marymount, but the football program did not compete during

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 1946, football resumed at Loyola, and DeLellis coached the team to a 5–4 record in his only season there. He also served as the school's

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 ...

. His son, also named Anthony R. DeLellis, played at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

as a fullback from 1961 to 1963."All-Time Letterwinners", ''2010 Stanford Football Media Guide'', p. 185, Stanford University, 2010.

Head coaching record

References

1916 births 2003 deaths American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks Loyola Marymount Lions athletic directors Loyola Lions football coaches Loyola Lions football players Players of American football from Los Angeles County, California {{1940s-collegefootball-coach-stub