St. Bonaventure Brown Indians football

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St. Bonaventure Brown Indians football - Wikipedia

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St. Bonaventure Brown Indians football
First season	1895
Last season	1951
Stadium	Forness Stadium
Location	St. Bonaventure, New York
NCAA division	University division
Conference	Independent
All-time record	161–157–26 (.506)
Bowl record	0–0 (–)
Conference titles	6
Rivalries	Canisius Golden Griffins Niagara Purple Eagles
Colors	Brown and white^[1]
Website	GoBonnies.com

The St. Bonaventure University football program, commonly known as the Brown and White until 1931 and thereafter as the Brown Indians throughout the rest of the team's existence, was the intercollegiate American football team for St. Bonaventure University located in St. Bonaventure, New York. The team competed in independent. The school's first football team was fielded in 1895. St. Bonaventure participated in football from 1895 to 1951, compiling an all-time record of 161–157–26.^[2] The football program was discontinued at the conclusion of the 1951 season.

A second St. Bonaventure football team played three seasons from 1968 to 1970; this squad played only at the club team level and not as a varsity squad. St. Bonaventure changed its athletics moniker from "Brown Indians" to "Bonnies" in 1992, several decades after the football team played its last game.

History

For most of St. Bonaventure's history as an athletic school, football largely served as a secondary sport, with the squad's football players playing multiple other sports, including the team's basketball squad; the head coaches were also usually shared between sports. St. Bonaventure suspended its football program during World War II.

In 1946, under the directorship of Anselm Krieger, St. Bonaventure made a major expansion of its football program to accommodate an influx of students following the war, and constructed Forness Stadium on the campus's eastern edge in an effort to establish the Brown Indians as a major football school.^[3] The team enjoyed substantial success in the six years of post-war football under former Notre Dame coach Hugh Devore and, after Devore left in 1950, former and future Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Joe Bach (Steelers owner Art Rooney and Krieger's successor as Bona athletic director, Silas Rooney, were brothers). Despite the on-field success and frequent sellouts of the 12,000-seat stadium,^[3] St. Bonaventure opted not to continue sponsoring football after the 1951 season, citing high expenses and the shutdown of the schools' biggest rival football programs at Niagara and Canisius.^[4] Rooney would instead bring the Steelers to St. Bonaventure to use the stadium for training camp (the Steelers would also hire Bach as their head coach at the same time) for the next several years until the stadium was dismantled.^[5]

An attempt to launch a club football squad at St. Bonaventure in the late 1960s failed after three seasons due to lack of community interest.^[4]

Notable former players

Notable alumni include:

Jack Butler: Hall of Fame cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, 1951–59
Ted Marchibroda: Later NFL coach for the Indianapolis Colts (1992–95) and Baltimore Ravens (1996-98)

Year-by-year results

Championships

Conference championships

Conference affiliations:

1895–1925, independent
1926–49, Western New York Little Three Conference
1950–51, independent

Year	Conference	Coach	Overall Record	Conference Record
1931	Western New York Little Three Conference	Mike Reilly	4–2–2	1–0–1
1933	Western New York Little Three Conference	Mike Reilly	4–2–2	1–0–1
1935	Western New York Little Three Conference	Mike Reilly	6–2–1	2–0
1941	Western New York Little Three Conference (co-championship)	Mike Reilly	3–5	1–1
1946	Western New York Little Three Conference	Hugh Devore	6–2	2–0
1949	Western New York Little Three Conference (co-championship)	Hugh Devore	6–3	2–1
Total conference championships			6

References

^ St. Bonaventure University Brand Style Guide (PDF). May 1, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
^ "St. Bonaventure Historical Data". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
^ ^a ^b Melaro, Jim (May 9, 2017). "Melaro: LoVuolo reflects on Bona playing career, coach Devore". Olean Times Herald. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
^ ^a ^b A brief history of St. Bonaventure football
^ "Destroy Evidence Of Bona Grid Climb". Binghamton Press. June 17, 1959. p. 50 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e St. Bonaventure Bonnies football
Venues	Bradner Stadium (1926–1942) Forness Stadium (1946–1951)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1895 1896 1897 1898–1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952–1967 1968 1969 1970

v t e St. Bonaventure University
Located in: St. Bonaventure, New York
Media	The Acorn The Bona Venture WSBU
Athletics	Baseball Softball Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Men's soccer
Campus	Forness Stadium Handler Park Reilly Center
People	List of alumni Founder
Founded: 1858

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