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 and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player and coach,

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

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

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...

from 1939 to 1942,

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

from 1947 to 1956, and

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

from 1957 to 1967, compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

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 gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

for part of the 1941 season and with the Cleveland Rams 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 a ...

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), officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international Association football, soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, which is ...

during the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the 2nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, senior men's national teams. It took place in Kin ...

. He is a member of the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...

Soccer

Club

In 1925, Donelli played for Morgan F.C., 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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

team. In a 4–2 qualifying victory over

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Rome, Italy Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

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 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, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

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 Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

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

, and the

and Cleveland Rams 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 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

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 an American professional football executive and coach. He was the fifth chief executive and second commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) from 1946 until his deat ...

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 Cleveland Rams for a single season (

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

), 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 List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

championship.

Other accomplishments

Donelli was a founding member of Alpha Phi Delta, 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 naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

for a short time during the last year of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donelli, Aldo 1907 births 1994 deaths American football halfbacks American football punters American men's soccer players Men's 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 Strasser 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, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Fort Lauderdale, Florida Players of American football from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Soccer players from Pennsylvania American people of Italian descent Cleveland Rams head coaches Pittsburgh Steelers head coaches Duquesne University alumni 20th-century American sportsmen