John "Ox" DaGrosa (February 17, 1902 – April 23, 1953) was an American coach and administrator who served as head football coach at the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

and was a member of the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission.

Early life and career

DaGrosa attended

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

from 1922 to 1925. He played every position on the school's football team, but was primarily a lineman. After his playing career he served as a line coach under

Lou Little Luigi "Lou Little" Piccirilli December 6, 1891 – May 28, 1979) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Georgetown College—now known as Georgetown University—from 1924 to 1929 and Columbia University from 193 ...

Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located at Washington, D.C. The Georgetown's athletics department fields 24 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the Natio ...

from 1926 to 1929. From 1930 to 1933, DaGrosa was an assistant coach at

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

and attended the Temple School of Law. In 1936 he was an assistant with the NFL's

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. In 1940, he was the Republican nominee for the First District seat in the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four-year terms, stagger ...

. In 1941, he was the national director of industrial activities and sports for the Hale America program, a national health initiative established after the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

and America's entry into

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 ...

Holy Cross

In 1944, DaGrosa became the line coach and chief assistant at Holy Cross, succeeding

Lud Wray James R. Ludlow Wray (February 7, 1894 – July 24, 1967) was a professional American football player, coach, and co-founder, with college teammate Bert Bell, of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was the first coa ...

. Due to head coach

Ank Scanlan Anthony J. "Ank" Scanlan ( – February 13, 1965) was an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts from 1942 to 1944, compiling a record of 16–8–3. Early life A ...

's war work, DaGrosa led the team five days a week while Scanlan was only able to coach on the weekends. In 1945, DaGrosa was named head coach and given a three-year contract. That year, DaGrosa led Holy Cross to an 8–1 record, including a 46 to 0 defeat of rival

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...

. Holy Cross received an invitation to the 1946 Orange Bowl, but lost to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

13 to 6. The following year, the team went 5–4, including a 13 to 6 upset of Boston College in the season finale. In 1947, Holy Cross started training camp with only ten players due to graduation and transfers. By October, injuries forced DaGrosa to ask a member of the school's baseball team who had never played football before to join the team. On November 5, 1947, DaGrosa stated at a testimonial dinner that "this would be the last year I shall be away from my family" (DaGrosa's family resided in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

while he coached at Holy Cross). On November 24, the school announced that DaGrosa would resign following the final game against Boston College. The Crusaders defeated Boston College 20 to 6 in his final game as head coach to finish the season 4–4–2. On March 7, 1948, Temple University announced that DaGrosa would serve as lead assistant to head football coach

Ray Morrison Jesse Raymond Morrison (February 28, 1885 – November 19, 1982) was an American football and baseball player and a coach of football, basketball, and baseball. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (1915–1916, ...

. DaGrosa also served on the coaching staff of the northern team in the 1948

Blue–Gray Football Classic The Blue–Gray Football Classic was an annual American college football all-star game held in Alabama, usually in late December and often on Christmas Day. The brainchild of Alabama college football legend Champ Pickens, the contest began in ...

Pennsylvania Athletic Commission

In 1949, DaGrosa was appointed to the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission. During his tenure he served as the commission's primary spokesperson. On May 9, 1950, DaGrosa announced that the Commission had stripped Jake Lamotta of his middleweight championship because Lamotta had failed to defend his title in 11 months and refused to defend it against top contenders

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarde ...

or Robert Villemain. The commission instead chose to recognize Robinson after he defeated Villemain on June 5 at

Philadelphia Municipal Stadium John F. Kennedy Stadium, formerly Philadelphia Municipal Stadium and Sesquicentennial Stadium, was an open-air stadium in Philadelphia that stood from 1926 to 1992. The South Philadelphia stadium was on the east side of the far southern end ...

. On April 2, 1951, DaGrosa announced the suspension of

Ike Williams Isiah "Ike" Williams (August 2, 1923 – September 5, 1994) was an American professional boxer. He was a lightweight world boxing champion. He took the World Lightweight Championship in April 1945 and made eight successful defenses of the title a ...

following Williams' failure to appear at a scheduled bout. On February 2, 1952, the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission chose not to go along with Indiana's suspension of World Heavyweight Champion

Jersey Joe Walcott Arnold Raymond Cream (January 31, 1914 – February 25, 1994), best known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1930 to 1953. He held the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC), National Boxing Associa ...

after Walcott failed to appear at an exhibition. DaGrosa called the suspension "unfair and arbitrary", as he had recommended to the Indiana commission that the fight be canceled due to Walcott's ill health.

Death

In February 1953, DaGrosa suffered a heart attack which left him bedridden. He died on April 23, 1953, at his home in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

after suffering another heart attack. He left a wife, Mary Bennett DaGrosa, and two children, John and Ruth.John Ox Da Grosa Dies at Age of 51, ''Hanover Evening Sun'', April 24, 1953

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:DaGrosa, Ox 1902 births 1953 deaths Colgate Raiders football players Colgate University alumni Georgetown Hoyas football coaches Holy Cross Crusaders football coaches Lawyers from Philadelphia Pennsylvania Republicans Pennsylvania state athletic commissioners Philadelphia Eagles coaches Sportspeople from Atlantic City, New Jersey Sports coaches from Philadelphia Temple Owls football coaches Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni 20th-century American lawyers Players of American football from Philadelphia