James Corcoran Donnelly (December 9, 1881 – March 24, 1952) 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 wi ...

player and coach in the early 1900s. He played football at Worcester's Classical High School then went on to Dartmouth where he played football. After graduation in 1905 he went to Harvard Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1908. He practiced law and served as head football coach at

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is a Private university, private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1865 in Worcester, WPI was one of the United States' first engineering and technology universities and now has 14 ac ...

(1909, 1911, 1915),

Howard College Howard College is a community college in the U.S. state of Texas with its main campus in Big Spring and branch campuses in San Angelo and Lamesa. History Howard County Junior College was established in Big Spring in 1945. 148 students be ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

(1910), and

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion of the state approximately northwest ...

(1912–1914), compiling a career college football record of 22–32–4. In 1931, he was appointed a Superior Court judge. His younger brother,

Charley Donnelly Charles Francis Donnelly (February 4, 1885 – May 1967) was an American educator, golfer, and college football and golf coach. He served as the head football coach at Maryland Agricultural College—now known as the University of Maryland, Colleg ...

also coached football at the high school and college level. His youngest brother, Ralph E. Donnelly, was also a standout football player and war hero.

Early life

Donnelly was born on December 9, 1881 in

Clinton, Massachusetts Clinton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,428 at the 2020 census. For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Clinton, please see the article Clinton (CDP), Massach ...

. Donnelly was the oldest of seven children born to John E. Donnelly and Mary Ellen ''Corcoran'' Donnelly. His father immigrated from England and was a machinist in Clinton. His siblings were: John W. Donnelly, Charles Francis Donnelly, Joseph Alyosius Donnelly, Mary Valentine ''Donnelly'' Campbell, Ralph Edward Donnelly, and Kathleen Louise ''Donnelly'' Crowley. James graduated from

Classical High School Classical High School, founded in 1843, is a public magnet school in the Providence School District, in Providence, Rhode Island. It was originally an all-male school but has since become co-ed. Classical's motto is ''Certare, Petere, Reperire, ...

in Worcester, where he had starred in football.

College career

He attended Dartmouth College where he graduated with an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1905. He excelled in football where he played end on the first Dartmouth football team to beat Harvard. In 1904, his final year, he lettered under coach

Fred Folsom Fred Gorham Folsom (November 9, 1873 – November 11, 1944) was an American football player, coach of football and baseball, lawyer, and law professor. He served as the head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder (1895–1899, 1901 ...

. That year, he helped the Dartmouth eleven to an undefeated record of 9–0–1 with a scoreless tie to national power Harvard. Donnelly played alongside three

Walter Camp Walter Chauncey Camp (April 7, 1859 – March 14, 1925) was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". Among a long list of inventions, he created the sport's line of scrimmage and the system ...

All-Americans The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

, Joseph Gilman at guard (2nd team),

Ralph Glaze Daniel Ralph Glaze (March 13, 1881 – October 31, 1968) was an American sportsman and coach who played as a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, and later became a football and baseball coach and administrator at several colleges. Ear ...

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 ...

(3rd team) and James Vaughn at halfback (3rd team). The team out scored its opponents by a combined score of 143 to 13. After graduating from Dartmouth, Donnelly attended Harvard Law School and graduated in 1907.

Legal career

After graduating from Harvard, he was admitted to the bar in 1908 and became a lawyer in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. Early in his career, he clerked in the law office of Thayer & Cobb, where he worked with

Webster Thayer Webster Thayer (July 7, 1857 – April 18, 1933) was a judge of the Superior Court of Massachusetts, best known as the trial judge in the Sacco and Vanzetti case. Background Thayer was born in Blackstone, Massachusetts, on July 7, 1857. He att ...

, later the judge in the Sacco and Vanzetti Trial. In 1908, he became law partners with Charles F. Campbell. In 1931, he was appointed as a judge in the Superior Court in Worcester by Governor Joseph B. Ely. His appointment was aided partly by the political connections of his family and his law partner but was hailed by the legal community because he was known for his consistency and fairness.

Coaching career

In the fall of 1905 he began coaching local high schools and colleges in the area. During the period from 1905 to 1909 he was the football coach of one or two teams per season including ones at Worcester High School,

, and Highland Military Academy of Worcester. In 1910 he took the head football job at Howard College (now known as Samford University) in

. His team finished the season with a 1–8 record only scoring 10 points to their opponents' 304. In 1911 he returned to coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute until he was hired for the 1912 football season as an acting professor of physical education and football coach at

. In the three years as head coach at Miami he had a combined record 14–8–2. Donnelly was replaced as head football coach for the 1915 season by Chester J. Roberts. At the time Miami was changing their philosophy of athletics by moving to an all-year athletic coach. Donnelly was unable to be in Oxford for the entire school year since he could only take a limited amount of time off from his law practice in Massachusetts.

Personal life

He married Mary O’Reilly of Worcester on October 21, 1920 and they had three children: James, Jr., Rosemary, and Elizabeth Ann. Judge Donnelly was killed in a traffic accident in

Ashland, Virginia Ashland is a town in Hanover County, Virginia, United States, located north of Richmond along Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 7,225, up from 6,619 at the 2000 census. Ashland is named after the Le ...

on the way back from Florida on March 24, 1952. His car was hit head on by a truck. His wife and his daughter, Rosemary were also in the car at the time of the accident, with Rosemary also being killed.

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, James C. 1881 births 1952 deaths Dartmouth Big Green football players Miami RedHawks football coaches Samford Bulldogs baseball coaches Samford Bulldogs football coaches WPI Engineers football coaches High school football coaches in Massachusetts Massachusetts lawyers Harvard Law School alumni Players of American football from Massachusetts 20th-century American lawyers