James Donald Bond Jr. (February 14, 1894 – April 9, 1956) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach. He played college football at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

from 1915 to 1920, with his career being interrupted by military service and injuries sustained in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He also played 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 ...

for the

Brooklyn Lions The Brooklyn Lions were a National Football League team that played in the 1926 NFL season. The team was formed as the league's counter-move to the first American Football League, which enfranchised a team called the Brooklyn Horsemen, a profe ...

in 1926. He coached college football at

Centre College Centre College, formally Centre College of Kentucky, is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, United States. Chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819, the col ...

(1922), the

University of Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

(1923),

Canisius College Canisius University is a private Jesuit university in Buffalo, New York. It was founded in 1870 by Jesuits from Germany and is named after St. Peter Canisius. Canisius offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and minors, and around 34 ma ...

(1924), and

Albright College Albright College is a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1856 and had an enrollment of 1,652 students as of fall 2023. History Albright College traces its founding to 1856 when "Union Sem ...

(1925).

Pittsburgh

Bond was born in

Painesville, Ohio Painesville is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Grand River (Ohio), Grand River, it is a northeast suburb of Cleveland. Its population was 20,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Pa ...

, and grew up in the Morningside neighborhood in

Pittsburgh 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 ...

. He attended Central High School in Pittsburgh, where he competed for the school's football, baseball, and track teams. In 1914, Bond enrolled at the

and played

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 ...

as a reserve

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 gu ...

in 1915 and 1916 for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

under head coach Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner. His college career was interrupted by military service during

. He was assigned to

Camp Gordon Fort Gordon, formerly known as Fort Eisenhower and Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established southwest of Augusta, Georgia in October 1941. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps, United States Army Cy ...

, where he played for the camp's football team. He was subsequently deployed with the

82nd Infantry Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops Magazine'', 25 November 2012. Archived from tho ...

to France where he was "wounded and gassed" at the

Battle of Saint-Mihiel The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a major World War I battle fought from 12 to 15 September 1918, involving the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and 110,000 French troops under the command of General John J. Pershing of the United States again ...

. After several months recuperating, Bond returned to Pitt in August 1919. The ''

Pittsburgh Press ''The Pittsburgh Press'', formerly ''The Pittsburg Press'' and originally ''The Evening Penny Press'', was a major afternoon daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for over a century, from 1884 to 1992. At the height of its popul ...

'' reported on Bond's return as follows: "Jim Bond ... is another hero of the world war, and was injured in action in France. He has entirely recovered from his wound, and will be with the Panthers this fall." After the 1919 Pitt-West Virginia game, one sports columnist wrote: "Pop Warner did not have to waste much time in making a guard out of Bond, who looks like a find." He played for Pitt's varsity football teams in 1919 and 1920, graduating in 1921.

Coaching career

Bond began his coaching career as an assistant coach under Charley Moran at

in 1922. Centre's 1922 team finished with an 8–2 record, including victories over Clemson (21–0),

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

(55–0),

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

(10–6),

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

(32–7),

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

(27–3), and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

(42–0), and a narrow loss to Auburn (6–0). After only one year at Centre, Bond was hired as the head coach of the

football team. In his one season at Buffalo, the 1923 Bisons compiled a 2–5–1 record. Bond resigned as the team's head coach at the end of the season He subsequently served as a football coach at

in 1924 and the athletic director and football coach at

from 1925 through the spring of 1926.

Brooklyn Lions

In the spring of 1926, Bond retired from coaching and returned to Pittsburgh. In the fall of 1926, Bond played one season of professional football as a guard for the

of the

. He started two games for the Lions.

Later years

Bond was later employed by a refining company in Pittsburgh. He also worked as a baseball

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...

and served as an official of the Pittsburgh Umpires Association. At the time of the 1930 U.S. Census, Bond was living in Pittsburgh and working as a salesman for an oil refining company. As of April 1942, Bond was living in

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Allegheny County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the List of counties in Pennsylvania, state's second-most populous county, after Philadelp ...

, and was employed by the Atlantic Refining Company. He died on April 9, 1956, in Pittsburgh."United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPC1-G68M : 17 October 2019), James Donald Bond, 25 Mar 1919; citing Military Service, NARA microfilm publication 76193916 (St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985), various roll numbers.

Head coaching record

References