Albert Joseph Onofrio (March 15, 1921 – November 5, 2004) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Missouri from 1971 to 1977, compiling a record of 38–41. He spent 13 years, from 1958 to 1970, as an assistant coach at Missouri under Dan Devine. His Missouri football teams upset the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on October 21, 1972, at South Bend, Indiana, the Alabama Crimson Tide on September 8, 1975, at Birmingham, the USC Trojans at Los Angeles on September 11, 1976, the Ohio State Buckeyes at Columbus two weeks later, and the Arizona State Sun Devils at Tempe on October 1, 1977, during his final season at Missouri. In his seven years at Mizzou, Onofrio compiled a 1–6 record against arch-rival Kansas, which contributed to his dismissal.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 15, 1921 Culver City, California, U.S. |
| Died | November 5, 2004 (aged 83) Tempe, Arizona, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1941–1942 | Arizona State |
| Position(s) | Halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1946–1950 | Arizona State (assistant) |
| 1955–1957 | Arizona State (assistant) |
| 1958–1970 | Missouri (assistant) |
| 1971–1977 | Missouri |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 38–41 |
| Bowls | 1–1 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| Big Eight Coach of the Year (1972) | |
Onofrio coached four All-Americans and 30 future National Football League players. He led Missouri to two bowl games, the 1972 Fiesta Bowl, a loss to Arizona State, and the 1973 Sun Bowl, a win over Auburn.
Onofrio was a 1993 inductee to the Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame. He died on November 5, 2004, in Tempe, Arizona.[1]
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri Tigers (Big Eight Conference) (1971–1977) | |||||||||
| 1971 | Missouri | 1–10 | 0–7 | 8th | |||||
| 1972 | Missouri | 6–6 | 3–4 | 5th | L Fiesta | ||||
| 1973 | Missouri | 8–4 | 3–4 | 4th | W Sun | 17 | |||
| 1974 | Missouri | 7–4 | 5–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 1975 | Missouri | 6–5 | 3–4 | T–5th | |||||
| 1976 | Missouri | 6–5 | 3–4 | 6th | |||||
| 1977 | Missouri | 4–7 | 3–4 | 5th | |||||
| Missouri: | 38–41 | 20–29 | |||||||
| Total: | 38–41 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Early life and education
editOnofrio received a bachelor and masters degree from Arizona State University where he was the president of the student body and named all conference halfback in football. Onofrio served in the Navy from 1943 to 1946 during World War II. He was a gunnery and executive officer on the LCTR-464 and participated in the bombardment of Omaha Beach on D-Day during the invasion of Normandy.[2][3][4]
References
edit- ^ "Former Mizzou Coach Al Onofrio Passes Away". mutigers.com. CBS Interactive. November 5, 2004. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
- ^ "United States Navy: WWII Naval war time experiences", George Fortune blog. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
- ^ "US Landing Craft Tank (Rocket) – D Day", Combined Operations blog. Retrieved June 28, 201.
- ^ Mann, Dinn. "Leading a Winner", The Arizona Republic, 105th year, number 19, June 6, 1994, pp. D1 and D7.