Charley Donnelly Explained

Charley Donnelly
Birth Date:4 February 1885
Birth Place:Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Death Date:May 1967 (aged 67)
Death Place:Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Player Years1:1907
Player Team1:Holy Cross
Player Positions:Quarterback
Coach Sport1:Football
Coach Years2:1908–1910
Coach Team2:Eastern HS (DC)
Coach Years3:1911
Coach Team3:Maryland
Coach Years4:1913
Coach Team4:Worcester Tech
Coach Sport5:Golf
Coach Years6:1934–1948
Coach Team6:Holy Cross
Overall Record:2–11–2

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, College Park—in 1911 and Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1913. Donnelly was also the head golf coach at the College of the Holy Cross from 1934 to 1948.

Life and career

A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, Charley was the third child of John and Mary Ellen (Corcoran) Donnelly and the younger brother of James C. Donnelly, a standout football player and coach. His youngest brother, Ralph E. Donnelly, was also a notable football player and war hero. He attended Worcester High School, where he played on a championship football team. He attended the College of the Holy Cross, and played as a substitute quarterback on the football team in 1907. After college, he began selling insurance and had an office out of 311 Main Street. In 1910, he moved to Washington, D.C., and he coached Eastern High School on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and The Washington Herald considered that team "one of the best football elevens in the history of the institution". Donnelly also coached the Eastern High baseball team to success.[1]

In June 1911, while he worked as a clerk for the Census Bureau,[2] Maryland Agricultural College—now known as the University of Maryland, College Park—hired him as an assistant English instructor and head coach for its football and baseball teams.[1] Donnelly resigned as coach midseason after the football team compiled a 2–4–2 record,[3] including an embarrassing 14–0 loss to Central High School. Maryland turned to alumnus Curley Byrd, high school coach at Western High School, as his replacement.[2]

He returned to Worcester in 1912 and by 1917, he was listed as the assistant state actuary. He soon was selling insurance again and eventually he became a partner in the local agency Sullivan, Garrity & Donnelly. Charles married Ethel (Estes) Donnelly and they had no children. In 1913, he returned to coaching football for one season when he was head coach at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.[4] During the 1940s, Charles was the head of the License Commission for the City of Worcester. At the end of his life he lived at the apartment on 46 Elm Street in Worcester. He died on May 1, 1967, at age 82.

Donnelly was an accomplished golfer. On August 1, 1926, he set records for nine and 18 holes at the Leicester Country Club.[5] In 1927, he won the Worcester Municipal golf championship.[6] In 1932, he finished second in the Northeastern District Knights of Columbus golf tournament in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.[7]

Donnelly served as the coach of the golf team at his alma mater, Holy Cross, between at least 1934 and 1948.[8] [9] [10] While there, he coached future professional golfers Paul Harney and Willie Turnesa.[11] [12] In 1943, Donnelly captured the New England senior golf championship at Newtonville in an 18-hole playoff with a score of 79 strokes.[13] From 1951 to 1954, Donnelly was the president of the New England Senior Golfers' Association.[14]

Head coaching record

College football

Notes and References

  1. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045433/1911-06-26/ed-1/seq-7/;words=F+Donnelly+Holy+f+Charles+Cross Donnelly, Eastern High Coach, Signed by Maryland Aggies: Will Be Full-fledged Member of the Faculty and Coach Baseball Nine, Also Football Eleven.
  2. Morris Allison Bealle, King of American Football: The Story of Football at Maryland Agricultural College, Maryland State College and the University of Maryland: 1890–1952, p. 66, Columbia Publishing Co., Washington, D.C., 1952.
  3. http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_game_by_game.php?coachid=620&year=1911 1911
  4. Institute Notes . The Journal of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute . 17 . 1 . 54–55 . Worcester Polytechnic Institute . Worcester, MA. November 1913 . October 7, 2014 .
  5. https://archive.today/20120712111946/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/1648205592.html?FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Aug+02,+1926&author=&pub=Boston+Daily+Globe+(1923-1927)&desc=DONNELLY+BREAKS+GOLF+RECORDS+AT+LEICESTER&pqatl=google DONNELLY BREAKS GOLF RECORDS AT LEICESTER
  6. https://archive.today/20120713100438/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/1902956262.html?FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Sep+19,+1927&author=&pub=Boston+Daily+Globe+(1923-1927)&desc=C.+F.+DONNELLY+WORCESTER+MUNICIPAL+LINKS+WINNER&pqatl=google C. F. DONNELLY WORCESTER MUNICIPAL LINKS WINNER
  7. https://archive.today/20120713041010/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/2023138202.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Aug+05,+1932&author=&pub=Daily+Boston+Globe+(1928-1960)&desc=BELMONT+GOLFER+WINS+IN+K.+OF+C.+TOURNAMENT&pqatl=google BELMONT GOLFER WINS IN K. OF C. TOURNAMENT
  8. https://archive.today/20120717050738/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courant/access/820935452.html?dids=820935452:820935452&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+13,+1934&author=&pub=Hartford+Courant&desc=Holy+Cross+Golfers+To+Play+13+Matches&pqatl=google Holy Cross Golfers To Play 13 Matches
  9. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QpcgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PmgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3792,3929500&dq=donnelly+holy-cross+golf&hl=en Bowdoin Seeking N.E. College Golf Crown
  10. https://archive.today/20120722220954/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/208301352.html?dids=208301352:208301352&FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&date=Jun+09,+1948&author=By+Frank+Waldman+Staff+Writer+of+The+Christian+Science+Monitor&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=Yale+NCAA+Selection+Comes+On+Eve+of+Harvard+Contest+Sports+Here+and+There&pqatl=google Yale NCAA Selection Comes On Eve of Harvard Contest Sports Here and There
  11. http://goholycross.com/sports/m-golf/2011-12/releases/20110824pri77u Holy Cross Mourns The Loss Of Paul Harney
  12. https://archive.today/20120712082638/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/2033899682.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=May+22,+1936&author=&pub=Daily+Boston+Globe+(1928-1960)&desc=New+Intercollegiate+Golf+Champion+Scores+Individual+69+in+Oakley+Four-Ball+Event&pqatl=google New Intercollegiate Golf Champion Scores Individual 69 in Oakley Four-Ball Event; TURNESA AND COACH TAKE OAKLEY GROSS Willie Gets Sub-Par 69 to Carry Donnelly to Win--Whittemore And Sides Runners-Up
  13. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7Vo5AAAAIBAJ&sjid=fSkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=397,1603947&dq=donnelly+holy-cross+golf&hl=en Ten Years Ago Today
  14. http://www.nesga.org/presidents.htm Past President