The announcement last spring of the retirement of Don Bucci as Cardinal Mooney’s head football coach put an exclamation mark at the end of a gridiron career that spanned five decades of Ohio scholastic football history — a career that was founded in an unmatched work ethic and unsurpassed preparation in football and for life.

Coach Bucci compiled an impressive coaching record during his 39 seasons mentoring young men.  Don’s teams won 306 games throughout his stellar career, 284 of those wins came while at the helm of Cardinal Mooney’s grid dynasty.

Don Bucci’s list of accomplishments includes four state championships, five trips to the state semi-finals, one state runner-up, and 18 Steel Valley Conference titles in 27 years of SVC competition.  Before joining the Steel Valley, Bucci also led the Cardinals to two City Series Championships.

Don’s teams were a dominant force not only locally but statewide.  They helped move the focus of Ohio high school football to the Mahoning Valley.  His teams played squads from five states taking on any team willing to play them and demonstrating the reality that Youngstown teams could not be discounted when deciding championships.

His philosophy was clear . . . simplicity and execution.  Practice, practice, practice, and more practice resulted in success.  He was the first to make any sacrifice that he demanded of his players and coaches.  He invested more time throughout the week than anyone.  The results of his dedication were readily apparent on game night.

While forty-five of his players have garnered all-state honors and six have been selected high school All-Americans, Don’s real forte was taking raw at times marginally talented athletic material and molding a cohesive winning team.  Bucci’s teams were always disciplined and fundamentally sound.  No one ever outworked Coach Bucci.

Some may point to Don Bucci’s won-lost record as the final measure of his success.  Others might count being previously welcomed into four halls of fame, including the National High School Coaches “Hall of Fame” and the Ohio Coaches “Hall of Fame”, or his selection by both wire services as Ohio Coach of the Year in 1973.  Still others could point to the many coaches that have come out of the Mooney program — coaches who will impart Coach Bucci’s attention to detail and work ethic to a new generation of young men.

But in the final analysis, Don Bucci’s contribution is measured in the countless lives he has touched and hundreds of young men who learned from him that hard work and sacrifice are rewarded with success.  Whether on the playing fields of their youth or the workplace of their adult lives, Coach Bucci taught his players that success in any venture is reliant on hard work, discipline, thorough preparation, team work, and grace under pressure.

Don and his wife, the former Rosemarie Sainato, have five children: Gina, Donald, David, Dennis, and Doug.

 

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