SRU Oral History: Slippery Rock University in the Sixties
Mr. Paul Bruno
08 September 1992 Bailey Library, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
Interviewed by Dr. Joseph Riggs and Leah M. Brown

PB: To begin. I see number one, why Slippery Rock University. I could give you a little background of
how I got here, and my relationship with Bob DiSpirito because that all blends in. My high school coach,
Joe Gleason from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, was a classmate of Bob DiSpirito's in prep school Someplace
in Connecticut. I forget the name of the prep school. When I graduated from high school, I had to go a
year of prep school before I could get accepted in school, and eventually, my high school coach, Joe
Gleason, took me at the conclusion of prep school to the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut where
his prep school mate Bob DiSpirito was the head football coach. So that's how I started with Coach
DiSpirito, and we know what his condition here at the university is. I taught five years in New Jersey. Of
course, I played four years for Bob at the University of Bridgeport in football. At the conclusion of five
years in New Jersey, I decided I wanted to go back to school, get my master's, and start coaching on the
college level. In 1969 I called Bob DiSpirito and were there any graduate assistantships. He said, yes. So,
my wife and I flew up from Jersey to here, and we spent a long weekend, and the hustle and bustle of New
Jersey compared to the slow, almost stop pace, of Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, we decided to come to
Slippery Rock. We got here in the fall of 1969, and I was a graduate assistant for Bob with football, and I
was a G.A. in physical education. Now at the conclusion of that year, Burton Hart, who was the offensive
line coach at that time, decided to take a year leave of absence to work on his doctorate. Now during this
particular year I'm applying for different positions and waiting to hear, and one day Bob came in and said,
SRU Oral History: Slippery Rock
University in the Sixties

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how would you like to spend one more year here as temporary faculty. Of course, we loved it. At that
time, I still did not have a concrete offer of different schools, so we stayed. To make a long story short,
Burton Hart never came back, and August of 1970 I was offered a full, permanent position at the university
and I've been here ever since. That's how it all...right place, right time, I guess. I think where we have best
experiences. Working under Bob DiSpirito as an assistant football coach had to be one of the main, main
components of my life. Working with him and the staff that we did have, Rob Oberlin, Stan Kendziorski,
Doug Clinger, who did I leave out. These are the people that I worked with for 14 years coaching, and we
had people leave in between as far as coaches, but the cohesiveness of the staff was just a great experience
for me. The best experience I'd have to say was 1972, 1973, and 1974. I hope those date are correct. Where
we won the state championship three years in a row. To my recollection, we didn't lose a conference game
in those three years. The president at the time was Dr. Al Watrel. I had have to say working as an assistant
coach _____ through Dr. Watrel as far as the athletic program, not just simply football was at its highest
peak. The student body here was very energetic, supporting athletics. When you'd go into the Fieldhouse,
a wrestling match, basketball the same, football stadium just jam-packed with enthusiasm. This is
somewhat very disappointing to me what has transpired as far as the setting of goals by administration in
athletics since Al Watrel. I've seen a program that was at its highest peak go down to mediocrity. That's
what we have right now as far as I'm concerned with the athletic program. Every once in a while, you will
have a championship team, but as far as the consistency that we had in those 1970's it no longer exists.
You want to make comparison of those early years to Indiana University right now. The administration
has made a commitment at IUP, and a basically financial commitment, in their program, their athletic
program, particularly football. It is just rolling along. How does that sit, compare, with goals. I would like
to see those days come back that we have the student body particularly proud of Slippery Rock University

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in the athletics. If you look at Notre Dame University where from what I hear they just break the door
down to try to get into the University and be a part of. Penn State University again, and I think athletics
play an important part of the feeling.

R: So IUP's rise has not been just because of the size of the Institution?

PB: No. To my understanding the president of IUP several years ago increased student activities fees five
dollars per student each semester, and the ten dollars per year goes into athletics as far as scholarships and
that goes supposedly. When I heard the president caught a little heat for several months, and then it's just
gone by the wayside, and now they have established money. They have a lot of money in their
scholarships. –

R: Does the alumni play a large part in that?

PB: I couldn't tell you, Joe. I would assume yes, but the monies they get from student activities fees for
athletic scholarships has helped. It has certainly helped. –

LB: Your feeling is that a good athletic program generates pride in the rest of the student body and attracts
good students in all areas.

PB: Yes. I really feel that if Dr. Watrel continued here with his past background of athletics. I think he
was the captain at Syracuse University back when, and he was a sports lover, and he did everything

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possible for us during those years. One of the reasons why we had success as far as I'm concerned is that
during that period, we had a lot of work-study money that we could offer kids jobs, not cash, but workstudy. During that period, we were one of the few schools to have as much work-study, and this helped
us. I think I'm proud of being on a great staff. You compare our staff to the present football staff here
under Coach Mihalik, they work just as hard as we did, but they don't have the funds available that we
had. Maybe someone would debate that, I don't know, but that's what my feeling is. Another point, I don't
want to sound negative, always been concerned why the University has not marketed Slippery Rock
University. I know our union, bookstore they sell this, that. People see Slippery Rock University. We've
had kids go down to Florida to buy 20 tee shirts and then sell them down there for double, triple. Why
hasn't the university marketed? We get back to Dr. Watrel, that philosophy. We've had administrators after
him use that philosophy, I really feel we could be a... I want to compare a Youngstown University which
is Division I AA. I think our program would have reached to that point. Television exposure constantly.
Traveling throughout the country in a Division I AA, I think we could have marketed ourselves much,
much better to bring in the diversity of students. We have a diversity of students but more, I think, and
more money to the University, and not necessarily just for scholarships but for other areas in the academic
curriculum. So, I'm somewhat disappointed that just kind of after Al Watrel we went downhill and stayed
status quo.

R: Was he a supporter of the other athletic programs or other teams like he was with football?

PB: Yes.

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R: I think people didn't know that.

PB: I'd have to say the football, the basketball, and the wrestling programs, the men's program, I think Al
saw that as a tool for popularity, publicity, etc. You start comparing with other major universities. Those
the football and basketball you look at a Notre Dame, you look at Penn State, you look at a Youngstown
University, the major colleges, those are the two main sports that generate revenue and the publicity and
the exposure to the country. I think with the Watrel era that was getting to a point. We always said if he
had continued the stadium, we have now probably would have been horseshoe-shaped probably with that
AstroTurf, and the stadium about 10,000 we probably would have had a 20,000 to 30,000 seat stadium.
Very comparable to Youngstown. Al Watrel would come in the office on Sunday nights, and he would
sit, and he'd say he didn't like this, and I didn't like that. You did a great job here. He was a sports lover,
particularly football. There were days where Bob DiSpirito would go to his desk, you may have heard this
one before, his mail would be open. Al would read through Bob's mail, and every once in a while, Bob
would tell him in so many words to stop it or get the hell out and stuff like that. Interesting. It just pops
into my mind. It was during recruiting, and we had used up most of our recruiting money. There was this
young man I was trying to recruit, and the school, I can't remember, and he was offered X amount of
dollars in scholarship from one of our sister institutions and we're sitting on a Sunday evening, we had a
recruiting meeting, and I got there early, and all of a sudden who walks in but Dr. Watrel. He said, Paul,
you look down. I said, yes, I'm really trying to recruit this young man, and we offered him X amount of
dollars. If I only had $400 more, it would make the difference to recruit this young man. He said, why
haven't you asked me? Now being an assistant coach, you better go through the head coach and Bob had
said we've used all our money. He said, look you should've asked me. I'm the boss here at this institution.

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Of course, we used to call him the owner of the team too. That was the conversation, and the next morning
Bob DiSpirito called me into his office, and he said, what the he heck did you say to the President? I said,
what do you mean? He said he got on the phone, and you know we need more money in recruiting, and
he said, you have an additional $400 to recruit. Now where Al got the money, etc., God only knows. He
finally got the boy for Slippery Rock. So that's a little tidbit story with Al.

R: I heard that he was one of your kind of a scout. That if he read the eastern papers.

PB: Oh, you know my teaching and coaching in New Jersey, of course Al grew up in New Jersey, and I
had X amount of schools here in Pennsylvania that kept me quite busy, but you're right. Al would bring
in X amount of Jersey papers that I think his parents would send him, and of course, Bob DiSpirito dumped
them on my desk and said, Paul, you be responsible for Jersey also. I didn't really at that time need the
additional...I'd have to read through the papers, and of course, periodically, Dr. Watrel would say, did you
contact this person, did you contact? So, it was a little extra work.

R: Do you ever think about how many hours a week a football staff or person put in? I know you have. I
know Donna has.

PB: Yes. You know the interesting thing about that is people don't understand what release time is. People
outside of the University. How much do you get paid for coaching? I'd say, zero. They'd look at me, and
I'd have to explain to them. You have three hours release time, and the amount of time that we put in on
the field and off the field didn't come close to the amount of time you received for release time. This is

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something where you do it because you love it, and you want to be the best you can be. The pride factor
takes a very important role in that. I get out of coaching in 1984, they gave me 14 years here, the year of
graduate assistant, 15, and five years in New Jersey public schools, so after 20 years of coaching, I pretty
much had enough of it. I was funny. The first home game I went to after I got out of coaching, I sat in the
stands. A little antsy and I'm saying to myself, did I make the right decision? Well, I got up Sunday
morning, went to church with my family, came home, we had a nice big breakfast, meanwhile I'm saying
to myself, I would have been in the office at eight o'clock in the morning, worked probably around four
hours, go home for lunch, go back at two, and not get home till twelve, one o'clock morning, of course, I
had an eight o'clock class Monday morning. Going back to that Sunday, after church we had breakfast,
come about one thirty put the Steelers on, and just relax, and I said, I don't miss it that much. Usually, the
hours you put in, Monday you're on the field four to six, then you back in the office after dinner, and
depending on how much work you had to do, ten, eleven, twelve o'clock. Wednesday you would have
team meetings. Thursday would be the only time you would get home around dinnertime because Friday
night you would be on the road looking at high school games. Saturday, of course, you have your football
games. If they're home, they're great, if they're away, you get back late, and all of sudden it's Sunday
morning again. You do that for X amount of years because you love it, but it's very, very time-consuming.
Getting out of coaching, it's opened up a whole new ball game of things I'm able to do now that I was
never able to do.

R: It's kind of a curiosity about the graduate assistant thing. How valuable are they to our football program,
and how much freedom do they have as they learn the skills of coaching as graduate assistants?

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PB: It all depends upon the qualifications of a graduate assistant. When I came in, I had coached five
years, and I still had a heck of a lot to learn. I learned the majority of my football, the knowledge aspect,
that first year here. Being associated with college coaches. Where when I was down in the high school,
some of the people did not have total concept of the game so that limited me. But once I got in this
situation, that first year I learned quite a bit. The freedom of the graduate assistants as far as their coaching
responsibilities I think their guided. They are limited on some of the things that they do. There's a lot of...I
don't want to say menial tasks within the office, but G. A's can do these little tasks. On the field they're
monitored. They have their specialties, but they're always monitored.

LB: Describe the characteristics of a good coach or maybe a great coach. What does a person have to be?

PB: When you're coaching on the college and university level, you're dealing with 18, 19, 20-year-old
kids. Coaches in the major college level their destiny is determined on the 18, 19, 20-year-old kids. I
thinks this is why a lot of major universities get in trouble where these coaches. Their job is determined
on their win and loss records. On a Division II and III program, and particularly those early years, I don't
think our job was determined by our won and loss record. We as a staff made pressure on ourselves as far
as winning. We took pride. I've always felt that the kids are here for an education first, then an experience
in athletics second. 99.9 percent of our kids have played, and I don't care for what sport, they're there for
an experience and after that four year or four- and half-year experience now they have to go out into the
world. I think coaches sometimes forget that the kids are here for an education first then that experience
second. I get troubled at times when coaches don't monitor the kids enough. One of the reasons why I got
out of coaching is after Bob DiSpirito is some of the philosophies of the people we had after him were

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totally different from Bob's where let's win, win, win, win, win, and whatever happens with the kids. And
there were a lot of little things that transpired that _______. If Bob DiSpirito was still coaching, I would
still be coaching today. I think the whole staff would. I think Doug Clinger probably would still be here,
Stan Kendziorski, Rod Osborne, myself, the original staff. I think we'd still be coaching believe it or not.
LB: So, the coach’s relationship with the team is concern for them?

PB: Yes. One thing after Bob some of the philosophies...every of the other coaches that every kid that
would walk into the football office no matter if he was six six or five two, yes, son, you can play here at
the Rock. And there were a lot of young men with their parents coming through and we had seen film,
high school film, that the boy would never play here, and the coaches would say, yes, you can play here.
That was just trying to get bodies out on that field, and one of the things I refused to do was to mislead a
young man saying, yes, you can play here, and then after two weeks or after a year would have to cut him
and make that person very, very unhappy. I had several discussions with coaches, and I will not do that
and mislead the kid, but they were concerned about bodies.

R: Did you consider Bob very different from other head coaches that you knew about at other institutions?
I know it's difficult to say he's one of a kind, but it may be easy to say he's one of a very special kind.

PB: Yes, I'd have to say that. I'm sure that there were coaches even today that have a very, very great
concern for their players. With my experiences, I went through three head coaches, and Bob was a special
breed compared to these other two people. We had one coach come from a major university, and another
coach from a small university, a small college, and different philosophies. Totally different philosophies.

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I'm not talking about the X's and O's of football. I'm talking about handling young men. Again, not to
repeat myself, that was one of the reasons I got out of coaching. I think another reason why I got out, and
this will reflect through the times, I don't think we had, and we still have the full support of the
administration on the importance of athletics to a college campus and Slippery Rock. Trying to go out and
recruit when the administration is not 100 percent behind you makes it very, very difficult. Nowadays,
sorry to say, to get a good student-athlete to your university what type of scholarship is available? And if
you don't have enough means to get that type of kid in, we're talking student-athlete, not just athlete, you
have to pay to get that person in. I think after Bob the last several years Bob and the staff were starting to
struggle with philosophy of administrators toward programs when Herb Reinhard came in and down the
line it got frustrating, and of course when Bob retired it continued.

R: At other institutions where I've been there has been resistance among the faculty that is faculty who
were kind of athletic haters, I sense in my 28 years here you never had that problem. The faculty
fundamentally supported the athletic programs in terms of allowing students __________

PB: Yes. I think we had great faculty support during those early years, and the reason for that is that
everyone likes to go with a winner. Okay? In going from a great program to a mediocre program, how
much faculty support we get now I question. This Saturday sitting up in the stands I didn't see many faculty
there. I saw administrators there, and I think the administrators where there because probably the president
told them they had to be there. I've seen that throughout the years I've been here.

R: I always had great sympathy for the administrators because they are always going to a tea or a cookie

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thing. Those people are...if you look out on the campus and you see people _________ all through the day
half of the are administrators on their way to another meeting or another. It's really a difficult thing.

PB: Bob DiSpirito in his early years used to have quarterback club meetings, and all the coaches after Bob
continued this. Now they used to be standing room only, particularly lunchtime, that was the hour put
aside and they'd show films, have lunch, and hear about the previous game and the upcoming game. You
go now and there might be just a handful of people. So, getting back to your comment or statement, Joe,
as far as is the faculty behind? It's decreased, but the bottom line is _____ everyone likes to go with class.

R: And the student enthusiasm, the same thing has happened there.

PB: I really believe that.

R: Depending on the sport.

PB: Yes.

R: Because it does vary widely.

PB: But when you start looking these past ten years, you start looking at attendance of our students at
athletic contests, it's sad. It's really sad. If the team is winning, then the attendance will get great, but as
far as a consistency in the program.

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LB: Lack of support has to reflect on the performance of the teams.

PB: Correct. Here we go right back...If you don't have the scholarship money to recruit quality student
athletes, then your programs are going to end up being mediocre. In our western division here, and I don't
care, the major sports and I hate use the word major sports because some people don't like to hear that
major sports, if you can't compete with scholarship money recruiting the quality student athlete, then your
program comes out mediocre. IUP is an example. Right now, they're going through a period that we went
through in the early 1970's. I don't think they've lost a game in football for two or three years now, a
conference game. So yes, the quality of the program, the win, loss record, if you can't compete with your
other sister institutions. I don't where we are right now as far as scholarship money, but I know Indiana
University, Edinboro, California University has more scholarship money than we do. And the poor coach
at California has more money, but they can't get the students to go there because I guess the campus looks
so depressed in the town.

LB: How does it compare how a team plays if the stands are full and cheering or with the same group how
they play if the stands are empty.

PB: I would think with the stands jampacked, and the crowd yelling and pepping the team on, they'd
motivate the kids tremendously. As a coach, I hate to say, I didn't even notice the fans were there because
you're so occupied with doing different responsibilities in the course of that game, and that's somewhat
sad. Before the game you look in the stands you see it's jampacked, in the field house it's jampacked, I

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would think it means a heck of a lot more to the athletes. It peps them up so to speak. To get that, I just
can't...you get a tingle through you to know as a coach, as a player that everyone's behind you, but those
early years, the comradery, the espirit de corps, the university was great, super, and I don't see that. I think
after Al left, Dr. Watrel, it just started going downhill. I think one of our problems in the athletic program
here is we got one big piece of pie, and everybody wants a slice of it. Every coach feels that their sport is
number one and rightly so. I know and I'm going to refer again because they're the class of the area, IUP.
They have many varsity sports, but they don't fund them like we do. I don't know enough about Title IX
with the women's athletics, but it seems here at the University we are one of the few schools, to my
understanding, following the Title IX, equal opportunity etc. And again, if the philosophy of institutions
want to spread it out, and I think we have 20 some sports, and try to get as much money to these sports as
possible, well that's great. I'm glad I'm not a part of it as far as the coaching because that has just created
mediocrity. We talked about all the time we spend as coaches. No matter how much time you put in if you
don't have the funds to recruit the kids, you have mediocrity. In football we say if you don't have the
ponies, you can't go, you can't ride, meaning to reach that goal, and again we're going to have our
championship teams periodically, but the consistency of the programs are not going to be there. The
winning traditions.

R: Does the NCAA or the conference place limitations on the number of scholarships and/or the amount
of money in any given scholarship?

PB: The NCAA, we're Division II...Joe, I've been away since 1984, I think Division II says you can have
either 45, I think it's 45 full scholarships. That's room and board, tuition, books, and laundry money. So

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to be a true Division II school, if the figure 45 is correct, that's most you can have within a four-year block.

R: For football?

PB: Yes.

R: That's not across the University?

PB: No. I'm sure the other sports have a limitation. IUP, I don't think they're still a true Division II program.
I don't think they have 45 full scholarships, but they're really close to it. So now you play an IUP who
plays a Lock Haven who might have 15 full scholarships versus 30, you know what happens.

R: Where must the money come from to fund those scholarships?

PB: From alumni donations, pretty much, I'm sure. Going back to IUP, they're using student activity fees
to fund some scholarships. I know that's legal. Donations of all kinds. When we played Youngstown
University last year, the last ball game, I think we were guaranteed I want to say $20,000 which goes into
the athletic pot. Now if that $20,000 went strictly to football scholarships. West Chester University for
years played Delaware University. Usually Delaware's (20)

PB: the home opener and guaranteed at that time I think around $20,000 or $25,000 and that would help
the scholarship program. Our basketball team right now when they went up and played Cleveland State,

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Annapolis and several of the Division I schools, they were all guarantees. They pay expenses plus. The
years we went out to Michigan, those two years, they were guarantees on expenses, and scholarship. I can
remember this ever came up the first year we played out of Michigan, I want to say $15,000 or $20,000
we were able to put in the kitty. Well, Herb Reinhard wanted to divide that money to all the conference
schools just to be a nice guy. Whether that transpired or not I don't know, but that was the mentality of
that period. He just couldn't understand.

R: P.R.

PB: I think Herb wanted to be considered a nice guy and at the same time the athletics started dropping.

LB: Tell us something about your early life. I mean life before Slippery Rock if there was such a life.
What were you interested in, sports, when you were a kid?

PB: I grew up in Bristol, Rhode Island. I played high school baseball, football, and basketball. My senior
year I made all conference in all three sports. I was a terrible student in high school. All I lived for was
athletics, and of course I probably at that time thought I was the greatest thing since popcorn. I lived right
along the water, __________ Bay. My home was probably about three hours from the New Hampshire
mountains. When I decided I wanted to go to college that was about a month before I graduated. I can
remember vividly sitting on the graduation stage saying what do I do now. I applied to several schools
could not get accepted because my grades were terrible.

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LB: What year was that?

PB: 1959. My mother went back to work to send my to prep school. My Dad was working and my Mom
had to got back to work to send me to prep school. During that year away from home in New Hampshire,
Brewster Academy, ________, as a matter of fact, that's where Bob Raymond lives now. We have a
student on campus, Jack _______, a golfer, who is from _______ and went to Brewster Academy. After
that year, it kind of gave me a little kick in the pants, and I was able to get accepted to Bridgeport. Then I
met my wife at the University of Bridgeport where I got my degree in health and physical education, and
after four years we located in Red Bank, New Jersey. My wife taught for a couple of years before we
started our family and I taught in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. It's probably about 45 minutes away
from where we lived. I coached football, wrestling, and baseball those five. I taught three years junior
high school, two years at the high school, teaching health and physical education with coaching. Then this
is how we got the Slippery Rock connection. At the University of Bridgeport, I got my degree there, and
I played football for Bob. Going back to my home state, sailing, I teach sailing at the University. I learned
to golf, the ski program at the University. I didn't start sailing or skiing until I was married. I started doing
everything in western Pennsylvania versus New England where the ocean and mountains are. So, my wife
takes credit for that. I have a daughter that's 26 and graduated from here in communications, and she's out
in Vermont now working at a resort in the skiing aspect of the resort. I have a young boy who is a
sophomore majoring in physical education with an emphasis in sport management. Donna, my wife, has
been working going on close to ten years now in the public relations, communication area. We love it
here. Probably three or four years we'll retire and go back to New England. It's been just a great experience,
my job, I love it here. People have asked me; how can you stay in one place? You try to explain all the

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positive things that have transpired here. I tell them, this is how it is. I don't retire in Slippery Rock. No,
there's not enough for me to do. Things are just popping up. One of the things I miss about coaching is the
relationships that you make with the players. They come to you for all kinds of advice, and not just the
football aspect. As the years have passed now, I miss that so much at homecomings and games kids that
you've coached and taught, particularly the coaching, they'll start telling what we call war stories, do you
remember when, and I'll have to think back and say, yes, yes, yes, I miss that. If you were to ask me how
many kids on the football team right now that I know, probably just a handful on one hand because when
you coach you knew them all.

R: In the 14 years here, how many players did you coach?

PB: I'd say on the average probably about 15 kids a year that you'd be responsible in the positions that you
coach. Of course, you know other kids, other positions.

R: So really it runs way into the hundreds that you've come to know very, very well?

PB: Yes.

R: Their strengths and their weaknesses, their social attitudes the whole thing, and their parents?

PB: Yes. This past homecoming, I had a father come up to me and say, you don't remember who I am? I
said, I certainly do, Mr. Parr, and his eyes just lit up. There are some kids that come up to you and you

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remember faces but not names, and I like that as far as the kids coming up to you, but there have been
great experiences along the line.

LB: Where there some particular students that were outstanding that you can tell us about?

PB: Oh boy, that's a tough one, Leah. The positions that I coached, my nickname, I don't know if it ever
came up, was The Bear. I guess Bob gave me free reign. When I coached, I think probably I was the yeller
and screamer of the staff, and that's how I got labeled The Bear. I did a lot of loud talking and yelling on
the field. If I happen to get real hot and heavy on some of the kids, I made damn sure after practice was
over, I went to them and softened it up a little. I demanded a hundred percent on the practice with the kids.
As far as to name outstanding kids, as far as I'm concerned, they were all outstanding. From the kid that
didn't play to the starters, they worked hard. We had many fine athletes, all Americans that I coached, but
to say he was the best...

R: The four coaches, Oberlin, Stanley...

PB: It was Oberlin, Kendziorski, Clinger, myself, Bob DiSpirito, those were the...well, Doug Clinger, Rod
Oberlin, Bob, and Stan. Stan came about Bob DiSpirito's second year.

R: Doug was here?

PB: Right. Doug and Rod, I guess, and Bob were the original staff, and then they added Stan in 1968, I

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think, because I came in 1969, and Stan was already here.

R: Were you offensive line coach?

PB: The year I was a graduate assistant, I even forget what my responsibilities were, whether I worked
offense or defense. I think probably I might have worked offensive line, but as a helper too. I think Coach
Hart left. Then after that first year, Burton left then I was the offensive line coach. Now at that time we
had a freshmen program also which no longer exists. At that time freshmen could not play varsity football.
So, for one year I was the line coach with the varsity, and then I forget with coaching changes
responsibilities I became the head freshmen coach. I did that, I want to say for two years, two or three
years. I enjoyed that. I got a little frustrated. I wanted to coach varsity, but yet those two or three years
that I was the head freshmen coach, I'd call all the shots during a game which gave me a great what
increased my knowledge and satisfaction, and then again with coaching changes then I went back to the
varsity, and then for all those years I coached defense.

R: So, the assistant coaches were offensive line, offensive backfield. Then Stanley was the defensive back,
and then there was...

PB: Yes. Doug Clinger is an example that coached the ends and linebackers. Stan Kendziorski, defensive
backs, and I coached the defensive tackles and the guards. On the other side of the ball, Rob at one point
coached the offensive backs and then that changed to wide receivers. Bob was the line coach. I forget who
else. But some coaching changes in between. One fellow I hated to see go from the staff was Mike

Bruno, Paul 20
_______. I don't know if you remember Mike?

R: Yes.

PB: Great, great football mind, and he was part of this building of a tradition. He was the offensive
backfield coach, and I think he became offensive coordinator. Mike had aspirations of getting to major
colleges and then he did leave eventually. The only time I almost left here, and I forget what year it was,
it was in the 1970s. Bob DiSpirito came into the office and said, how would you like to coach at the
University of Rhode Island? And of course, being my home state, growing up in Rhode Island, knowing
URI, and of course it was a step higher, the caliber of competition, I said, geez I'd love that Bob, why? He
said, I think I might be going for an interview. At the time I was enrolled, just enrolled at Akron University
to start working on my doctorate. I had all my money paid, taken the tests, and Bob was interviewed, and
he came back from the interview, and he said, it looks like I'm going to get the job, Paul. Do you want to
go? I said, yes. To make a long story short, Bob didn't get the job. I had taken all my money out of Akron,
and I was so frustrated I never went back. I would have had a doctorate by now. Coaching and trying to
get a doctorate is very difficult, but at that time I was all pumped up to do it. But then when that fell
through, I procrastinated and never went back.

R: Yes, Clinger's got a enough advanced education for about three doctorates

PB: Yes.

Bruno, Paul 21
R: His academic background is spectacular.

PB: Sure. I mean when he retired, he was a full professor, but he didn't have the piece of paper.

R: When you advise students, you help them pick teachers.

PB: Yes.

R: Did you have a certain kind of standard that you followed when you were matching up your players
with the teachers and the courses?

PB: I believe so. I even do that today when I advise. I think every university and college has professors
that forget why they're teaching. Faculty forget sometimes why they're here. They're here to serve the
students. I'm not questioning their intellect at all, but I'm questioning the way they convey their material
to kids. There are faculty here I say, don't take, because what they do is throw it up on the board, and if
the kid doesn't comprehend it, it’s tough. There are faculty here that will work with students, and put in
extra hours, and those are the ones that I recommend to the kids. I'm not recommending faculty of saying
that that faculty is going to give them a grade, uh uh, but they will work with them. I listen to students
very, very closely on what they have to say about professors.

R: Did your being a faculty member yourself help with that situation?

Bruno, Paul 22
PB: No question. I always considered myself when I was coaching a faculty member first and a coach
second. Of course, I think way back when we talked about the importance of relating to the kids, you get
a lot of kids, athletes, that think they are coming here number one for athletics, and number two for studies.
We straighten them. I used to straighten them out pretty quick of why they're here, and of course I always
gave them the bottom line is after four years young man. I'm sure some of the women coaches after four
years your experience in playing intercollegiate athletics is over and now you have to go out into the
world. Yes, I think by being a faculty member it helped me, it helped the kids. If you have a head coach,
and after Bob DiSpirito we had two that were not faculty, all their life is centered around football not
around academics. They were out of touch with what was happening. Of course, we the staff that was
teaching tried to relate, but it's awful difficult to try to convince a person that's not in the classroom the
importance of versus the sport.

R: I saw that at Memphis State and at Illinois.

PB: Sure. Going back to the 18 and 19-year-old kid, all these coaches that are not involved in the
academics, all they see is the football. I used to go bunzo with Coach Ault. At the time, he was divorced.
He lived in a small apartment here in Slippery Rock, and all he had was football and the football office.
When he went back to his apartment, I think Don was a very lonely person, and he forgot about the staff
with family, etcetera, and subsequently, we'd be in that office quite a long time just spinning our wheels
doing nothing. But he felt by being there was part of the job. Where I think with Bob DiSpirito, he
understood how important it was to get the happy medium with family, with coaching responsibilities,
and this was a great plus. I can remember Fred Goldsmith, the coach that came in after Bob. We all wanted

Bruno, Paul 23
Doug Clinger to get that job. Doug was interviewed. Herb Reinhard knew Fred Goldsmith, and after Fred
was hired Fred had told me he said, Herb told me I had the job even before I came to be interviewed. He
said, the only person that you have to impress is Bob Aebersold, who at the time was Vice-president of
Academic Affairs. I was quite upset that Doug didn't get the job. I think Doug might have even applied
for that job after Fred left in one year. But interesting, Fred was a born again Christian. He came in from
a major university, Air Force Academy. The first thing he said to us at the first staff meeting he said, I
want you here, but I want you with family. We're going to do it this way, and everyone sure said, praise
the Lord. That year we went 28, and every week our hours increased, increased, increased, increased that
they got totally ridiculous. He made so much pressure on himself. Of course, he was only here a year. He
resigned. But again, the mentality of major college versus small college, he felt by putting in more hours
in the office would help, and it didn't.

LB: So, the president makes that decision of who's going to be head coach?

PB: Well, at that time, to my understanding, there was an athletic board that interviewed, but I think you
can also remember, Leah,...how should I say Herb Reinhard.

LB: I remember.

PB: I think he ran the ship like Hitler ran his...and I've heard that name pop up. Everyone was frightened
of Herb, and I think he had a great input into who was going to be selected. Did that ever pop up before?

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R: Yes, absolutely.

LB: I never knew it was his absolute decision.

PB: Well, I think you get to the ears of the people who ever sat on that board.

R: Yes, I remember a story when Bob had his heart attack and was in Intensive Care, that the search
process started for the new coach while he was in the hospital.

PB: Yes.

R: Dennis Tilko. I saw Dennis at that time, and he was really disturbed.

PB: I can remember. When Herb Reinhard was hired here, I can remember Bob DiSpirito very vividly
singing happy days are here again. Herb Reinhard was a big PR man. He wanted to be everybody's friend,
and when he was hired, I guess he had a conversation with Bob, and he projected of a sports enthusiast,
going to get the program back on the trail, and I can remember Bob DiSpirito singing happy days are here
again. Then little by little we started not seeing enough of what was said was going to be done. I guess
Herb made a lot of promises to Bob as far as the program and what was going to happen and it never came
through. I think this is one the reasons that Fred Goldsmith left. I think Herb filled his mind with this is
where the program is going to go to excellence, and we're going to give you this, this, this, and this, and
after a year it didn't happen. He saw it was going to be a downhill slide. Now seeing that we have an

Bruno, Paul 25
academician in the football program now with George Mihalik, Dr. Mihalik. He's worked hard for that. I
think he's surrounded himself with good coaches that are concerned for the kids. The program is on an
upswing.

R: I was at Central Connecticut game, and he was there, and someone told me that they thought he was
going...that was the year that Bob came back to coach. Everyone was talking about, excited about the
possibility of his coming.

PB: Yes. George is very concerned about academics with the kids. I think George is frustrated. He would
like more scholarship money to compete with. I think George is going to have a fine season this year.
What he has next year, and the year after is another question mark because he's losing quite a good number
of players and to get the consistency in a winning program you have to keep recruiting and bringing in
quality student athletes. I don't know if that's happening because of lack of funds. We'll see.

R: Well, I know Bob's new job in the development office is going out and searching for financial support
for the university. I just wonder what part of that gets allocated to athletics.

PB: Yes, but here let's go back to that piece of pie again, Joe. The monies that come in have to be divided
accordingly. You slice that pie too thin or into too small a slices you can't gain. I've heard people say the
type of alumni that we have here at the University most of them don't make the big bucks, and you might
get the hundred dollar, the fifty-dollar donation. And again if they designate it for athletics with the
philosophy of the University they have to divide that into equal amounts which I don't know the

Bruno, Paul 26
breakdown. As an example, if someone donated, let's say is we had x amount of alumni donating $50,000
to the football program then that money could not go directly to football. It's got to be spread out.

LB: I think that it used to be that you could designate which program.

PB: Leah, if I designated $50,000 to football, period, if percentage were not correct, they would not get
that $50,000.

LB: I'm sorry to hear that.

PB: Yes. I don't know. I belong to the Athletic Association, and it says what's your preference being a
coach and I love the other sports don't get me wrong, but if everyone did that, everyone that belongs to
the Athletic Association donated to football that money does not go directly to football. So, you really
don't know if your donation goes to that sport. I don't think the alums know that. I don't think.

R: Well, I know that there's competition and hard feeling and things happen within the sports program.
For instance, women's gymnastics when it went down the tubes there were a lot of irritated folks.

PB: Sure. Men's and women's gymnastics at the same time was dropped. The women's lacrosse team right
now only has 15 girls participating. Will that eventually be dropped? I don't know. Rumor was several
years ago that men's wrestling might be dropped. Some other schools are dropping some of the "minor
sports". Now if Steve Roberts or Fred Powell heard me say that wrestling is a minor sport, they'd probably

Bruno, Paul 27
get quite upset. If Jim McFarland or Laurie Lokash with women's volleyball, Jim McFarland with men's
and women's tennis, if they heard me say it's a minor sport, they'd probably get all upset. If you go to
Notre Dame and say wrestling is a minor sport, they'd probably say you are correct. Men's and women's
tennis, you're correct. The administration, as far as I'm concerned, has not been strong on this point, and
they'd say, yes, you are a minor sport. You can only get funded so much or you don't get funded at all.

R: So, the formula is not as clear as it might be in terms of where the priorities are? Is that what we're
talking about?

PB: Yes, I think so. But again, philosophy administration. From what I can see from the Watrel years to
what has transpired presently, the philosophy, right or wrong, is field your teams, give the kids an
experience and let them go on with their lives. And if that's the philosophy, that's great. I think that is. The
benefits derived from athletics, I think as far as the University itself, they are not reaping the harvest. I
think if they dumped a lot of money into the major sports here, the exposure, etcetera. I know Penn State
is a major college and they have what, how many thousands, 35,000 or 40,000 students, but I mean just
that football programs, the money that is generated into the University, and I'm not talking to maintain the
athletic program, I'm talking about to maintain the academic areas, it's just astronomical. Why can't they
do that here at Slippery Rock? Particularly with the name we have. I get sick and tired of people saying,
oh, we heard Slippery Rock. It's the best-known university, college throughout the country, and we haven't
marketed it. No one has wanted to take that initiative, and I think through athletics you could.

R: Well, it's the natural avenue. Because all of us in the 14 school system, academically, are pretty much

Bruno, Paul 28
alike Although we showcase some departments a little more than others.

PB: Right.

R: Are you a rabid fan of other schools, universities, or professionals?

PB: Not really. I enjoy watching college basketball, college football. I don't enjoy watching professional
athletics. The only time I watch professional basketball is when the Boston Celtics are on because when I
grew up Bud...it's funny since I've been out of coaching, I've found many different avenues where I don't
watch as many sports. I got involved the last several years in watching hockey because my son became a
real hockey fan. I can remember when I was a kid the Providence Reds were like the farm club for the
Boston Bruins. I went to one game and that was my hockey knowledge, and once my son got interested,
we'd go down and see the Penguins. ____________________

R: Well, you've known Bob now since he went to Bridgeport, right? So, you've known him three or four
decades? It's been a while.

PB: Yes.

R: So, he was a very young man when you met him? Twenty-five, twenty-six. Did he change much?

PB: Well, okay, my experience with Bob as an undergraduate playing for him. I was somewhat of a lazy

Bruno, Paul 29
athlete in college. I don't know if I gave it a hundred percent as far as conditioning. We had our tousles as
player-coach. When I got to Slippery Rock, I found Bob DiSpirito totally, totally well-organized- person
versus my experiences at Bridgeport. Now at Bridgeport, he only had one or two staff people. When I
came to Slippery Rock, he had five or six people. The organization of the staff, the program, was like
night and day. But I look back and say, at that time Bob DiSpirito was just a young pup. He was learning
also. One interesting point, my sophomore year there was an assistant coach. His name was Ed Markham.
He left after one year. He was George Mihalik's advisor at West Virginia University when George got his
doctorate. He had the Bridgeport connection. He knew Bob. Ed Markham was here. He's passed away
since. I just wanted to interject that because it was a little connection of Bridgeport, Slippery Rock there.

LB: You said that when you played for Bob at Bridgeport that you weren't the most motivated athlete, but
there was something in you that he recognized which is why he asked you to come here. He had lots of
people he could have asked.

PB: Probably so. When I go into something it's either a hundred percent or I don't go into it all. It's like
when we take vacations. If I don't have enough money, I don't go on vacation. Bob motivated his staff. I
have to say we loved him. Although there were some Sunday nights if you walked in that football office,
you'd think we hated one another because when we start planning strategies for that upcoming week,
everyone gave their input and if you didn't know that and you walked in the office, you'd think we hated
each other. There was yelling and screaming every once in a while.

R: How'd you take your losses? You had another week to face.

Bruno, Paul 30

PB: Yes. There was some, and I can't specifically say which were some real disappointing losses. You put
in so much time j preparing the kids and preparing you, yourself, and of course when you do get beat,
particularly with playing say someone you should have beat, playing a team that's superior than you and
losing isn't as bad. I'm trying to think of some of the real downers we had. I can't pick out any particular
ones. I know the year I was the graduate assistant that was the 1969 season when they upset IUP at IUP.
IUP was ranked second or third in the country. I couldn't go to that game. I was taking the GRE's that
Saturday. That's why I didn't do very well taking GRE's that day, but that was a big, big win for Bob. That
started the ball rolling with that program. That particular game was I think started it rolling as far as the
win/loss.

LB: At the Sunday night meetings where there was some discussion and yelling and what not, did
everybody have input that was respected or did the head coach say it's going to be this way?

PB: Everyone gave input, but the head coach makes the final decision. This is one of the things I liked
about Bob. He listened. There was sometimes that we changed his mind on different things. Sometimes
he changed our minds on different things, but the head coach always has the final decision. One thing I
try to relate in some of my teaching and coaching classes that I teach at the University that the head coach
is responsible for the piece of pie. Bob DiSpirito made us feel a very, very important part of the program
that we contributed to. He delegated responsibility. I always go back to my experiences in high school.
Those two years I was in Jersey this one fellow wanted to run the show himself. He wanted to do
everything. You can't run a sound program that way, and this is one of the things that Bob did. He

Bruno, Paul 31
delegated responsibility. Of course, by delegating responsibility, as we all know, you feel a part of it. This
was one of the successful things why it transpired, delegation of responsibility. Bob did that.

R: Well, he talked about the way he had a disciplinary system set us. Where they had a representative
from each class, and so if there was one of the players who was in trouble for his behavior or whatever or
not giving a hundred percent.

PB: Yes. They'd go in front of the board, and I think a peer board was worse than going in front of the
coaches. I don't know if Bob ever mentioned this. An upperclassman got in trouble and went in front of
the board and the board met in the southeast classroom- which is part of the new football offices now is
the room way in the back. We could hear yelling and screaming and some language I don't want to talk
about, but that young man who went before the peer board came out white, and the peers always make a
recommendation to the head coach, then the head coach decides whether they want to keep that person,
and the recommendation of that board, I believe, was to release the boy from the team, and Bob did not,
and that young man turned out to be just a great kid. It's funny that you bring this up. I think this is one of
biggest strong points of Coach DiSpirito. He'd counsel kids and give them several chances and most of
the time, most of the time, these kids turned out great. Where if Bob did not see into that kid and just fired
him so to speak you have no idea. I can think of a big tackle that I coached, Bobby ______, his first couple
of years is all kinds of trouble. Academically, getting into trouble on campus, and we worked and worked,
and if Bob did not have the patience with this kid __________. Now he struggled. He had a tough time
getting through school, particularly his first two or three years. Bobby _______ has his doctorate right
now, and there's several of those kids that could have been, could've said, you're out. Probably if Bob

Bruno, Paul 32
threw them off the team, they'd probably have dropped out of school. So, Bob did save a lot of kids
working with them, and there were a couple he fired after trying all his energies.

R: I've always heard stories about some of your backs about some of your defensive players like _______
who were so good that you had to be careful about them in scrimmage so they didn't hurt your own team.
Is there truth in those stories?

PB: Yes, I believe so. Those years we had some really great athletes. I think Terry Factor could have
probably played out of Pitt or Penn State. _______, the defensive ends, the same thing. I'm sure Dennis
Tilko, Jeff _________, and those guys. Dennis was an offensive tackle, could've probably played major
college, and yes when we scrimmaged, you'd have to kind of sometimes keep them out of scrimmages
because they were so intense some of the drills were half live drills where there wasn't full contact, and it
was so difficult to instill its half contact. A lot of times we'd keep them out of drills and some of the
scrimmages. Yes.

R: So those are true stories?

PB: They are.

R: Because they were always kind of half laughing stories when you heard them. They were kind of jokes.

PB: I can remember the intensity _______, matter of fact I think he's a minister now, if someone told me

Bruno, Paul 33
he would be a minister back then I would have bet a couple of paychecks. He hurt his leg a week prior to
the Indiana University game, and his leg was purple. I forget exactly the injury, but he couldn't walk after
the game. He was on crutches. Now his hometown was Homer Center which is right next to Indiana
University, and family pride, this, that, he wanted to play that game. We looked at his leg on Sunday, the
trainers looked at it, they said no way will this kid, but all week he went to therapy. He did exactly what
they told him and more, and come the following Saturday he played, and I think he made the Eastern
Division player of the week. That's the type of kids that we had with the intensity.

R: Having seen Factor play many times, I can understand why no one would want to scrimmage against
him.

PB: There's just a whole list of kids during that period. I'm sure even now there's some great athletes that
George has, and some that have gone through the program, but as far as the numbers of kids that we had
on those teams. We had a greater number of good ones, I think. Where again going back if we can recruit
the student athletes, we'd get them here also because I think we have a fine institution. LB: What courses
are you mostly teaching now?

PB: Okay. Right now, they're basically all activity classes. I teach some major classes. The teaching,
coaching, kids that are going to go out and become physical education teachers. I also teach some service
classes to the non-majors-. The personal physical fitness classes. Our facility here in the Field House is
terrible. I know when it was first built it was the pride and joy of the eastern part of the country because
it was a great facility, and now it is so outdated. Today, as an example, it's raining out I have a tennis class.

Bruno, Paul 34
I have one tennis court. I have close to 30 kids in a tennis class. The facility is too small to accommodate
what we teach. I've said this for several years. We're actually robbing from the students to put them in that
environment. The sad thing is that when the parents and the kids, incoming freshmen, walk through that
facility, I always here, oh, boy, is this great. But once the bad weather comes then it's just terrible. The
pool facility is so outdated. That's one of the frustrating things that I'm experiencing right now with the
facility. Outdoor facilities are great. We have plenty of open fields, but inside in the inclement weather,
it's not very good. The type of kid that we, still talking the teaching, and I tell them in my classes, the
majority of the kids that we have here know why they are here. It makes my job a heck of a lot easier. I
think the majority of the kids that we get are from the middle to upper class. Their parents have worked.
The kids know what dedication and hard work is. As far as discipline problems, I have none, every once
in a while, but for the most part, it's been great teaching here, the type of kid that we experience.

LB: When you're coaching of sports, they need all this background that you have, having been a coach
must really make that come alive for them?

PB: I consider myself with my coaching background and the way I teach, I teach more of a command type
method where the teachers in front of the class and this is what we'll do. What I try to do is the first several
classes is really get their attention. I will not allow anyone to wear a hat in my class. I will not allow cut
off sweats or jeans in some of my activity classes, and the kids look at me like is this guy for real. Once
I've got their attention, my classes run smooth. I don't allow any cuts in my classes. If you miss (45) PB:
only one type unexcused it's one letter grade deduction, and they look at me like is he for real. I tell them,
hey, you're paying good money for this class, I'm getting good money to teach, let's work together on this.

Bruno, Paul 35
So, once I get their attention, my classes, I love them. They run nice and smooth. My coaching background
I think has helped me work with kids. Teaching and coaching to me goes hand in hand. Maybe my teaching
has helped my coaching and vice versa.

LB: Here's a topic I don't think we brought up with anybody. That on your teams you had a lot of black
students, I don't know if there are any other minorities around Slippery Rock. What kinds of experiences
has that...

PB: I couldn't tell you. I have had no problems with minorities when I coached. I do have to say I can
think of just one. We had this big, black tackle. His name is Wally Robinson. I want to say it was the late
1970s we were in our...I'm trying to think if it was late. I don't think Wally was on a championship team,
but the kid must have been six four about 260, and he did, he was a fine athlete, but he did the minimum.
He could have been a great athlete. Of course, with some of my coaching methods, remember we're going
back to the Bear, loud, I couldn't motivate him at all, and I really felt Wally thought that it could have
been a black white situation which it wasn't. That was the only boy that I ever coached that I couldn't
motivate. I'd go home nights bang my head against the wall and try different techniques to motivate him.
That was the only one I couldn't motivate. And he started every game, and he did a nice job, but he could
have been great, and I couldn't get to him. In coaching one of the things that's imperative is to know your
kids as individuals first. How to motivate them. One kid might need the pat on the back, the other kid
might need a verbal whatever, then as you know them as individuals blend them into the group, the team
concept. But Wally was the only one that I couldn't get to.

Bruno, Paul 36
LB: How about among the kids?

PB: As far as?

LB: Black and white.

PB: As far as what they did off the field, I really have to think that one out. Did they socialize together? I
know some did. How many? I don't know. I never saw a problem during my coaching days of kids not
hanging together. I'm sure, like every program, there were some that didn't like another player, but as far
as a problem, I never experienced that.

R: I knew Herb Allen.

PB: I recruited Herb.

R: He and I were very good friends.

PB: Matter of fact, I recruited Herb to replace this Wally Robinson. Herb was from the Johnstown area. I
think Johnstown High School. I drove, I didn't have to, after I'd seen film and met Herb at the high school.
Very, very quiet kid. An average student. Not a great student, average. He met the academic requirements
here. How would you like to come on campus? Yes, I'd like to come. I said, when can you come? He said
I have no way of getting there. So, I drove in the wintertime all the way to Johnstown. Picked him up,

Bruno, Paul 37
drove him back here to spend the weekend. And Herb again was very quiet, and he must have said five or
ten words the whole trip. Introduced him to the ball players, spent the weekend. I had to drive him back
now Sunday, of course I wished I was home with the family, but this is some of the things you do. Well,
Herb, did you have a good weekend? Yes, it was okay. That was about the extent of commitment. It was
okay. I came back and I told Coach D., I said, I don't think Herb's going to come. So, I said to Herb, when
do you think you're going to let us know? He said, well, give me a week. I said, fine. Well, to make a long
story short, I picked the phone up, he called me, he said, I've decided I'm coming to Slippery Rock. Herb
was so, so concerned about academics, and I told him you do two things. Number one, you don't cut class,
and number two, you go to the library and study a minimum of two hours a night, and he made it through
here in four years. I bump into Herb every once in a while. I bumped into him at Peak 'n Peak skiing. I
told him the first time I saw him I said, do you realize that they don't allow blacks on the ski slopes? He
just laughed, and laughed, and laughed. But he keeps in touch every once in a while. I've had Herbie and
several kids when they come for homecoming, not homecoming, spring football game, when we used to
have the alumni come back to play. Coach, do you have a room? We have the three beds and they'd sleep
on coaches and three beds, and a couple of years had three or four stay at the house, and I'd get up in the
morning and there was probably six or seven, and I had no idea who some of them where until I started
turning bodies over, and they were alums that needed a place and they said, well, we're staying at Coach's
house, and that's how. And those are some of the things you relish.

R: Did you have a big tackle, lineman, named Hudson?

PB: Hudson.

Bruno, Paul 38

R: Early 1970s?

PB: Well, we could have.

R: Maybe I'm getting mixed up with basketball players. We had Hudson on the basketball team. Do you
have stories about Coach DiSpirito when he was a player?

PB: Well, when he was a player. The only story I remember, he played with a fellow named Pat _______.
Pat was from Warren, Rhode Island, and of course Bob was from _______, Rhode Island, and Warren
was the next town over, and Pat was an all-American at the University of Rhode Island. After he graduated,
he went into the Canadian Football League with the Montreal _______. He set all kind of scoring records.
Bob was an offensive guard at the University of Rhode Island. Bob, the stories that I hear, the reason why
Pat was an all-American was that Bob used to block for him, and how true that is I don't know. That's the
only story. The stories that I heard was he was a real tough nosed, and Bob's not the biggest guy in the
world, but he was an offensive guard, and he was an all-American at Rhode Island.

R: He told us a story about when he was 14, he was 185 or 195, and he played with a semipro team under
an assumed name. Do you know the story?

PB: No.

Bruno, Paul 39
R: Lovely story.

PB: Well, I think back when a lot of that was...I know when I did the history of football at Slippery Rock,
my thesis, I think it was N.K.T., N. Kerr Thompson, when he was growing up, he played for several
semipro teams, and at that time if it was legal, I forget it now, but a lot of them under assumed names, and
stuff like that.

R: It would have destroyed your amateur status?

PB: Yes, most definitely.

LB: You called Bob Coach D?

PB: Right. Coach D. That started when I got to Bridgeport. It wasn't Coach DiSpirito. Most of the time it
was Coach D. That's carried right on. Although you still...I think that's very common. Like Coach
________ here, Coach K. Stan Kendziorski was Coach K. Doug Clinger they used to call Dad. Doug
projected the Dad image. Of course, they used to call me Coach Bear.

R: And Doug is still coaching.

PB: Doug is at Grove City College which surprised the heck out of me once he retired, but he seems to be
enjoying it.

Bruno, Paul 40

R: And doing the United Way.

PB: Right.

R: Busy, busy fellow.

PB: Sure.

R: We got a dandy interview from him.

PB: Did you interview him already?

R: Yes.

PB: I'm sure Doug had some good stories.

R: Good stories. Just a good interview.

LB: You said you're not going to hang around here once you've retired.

PB: No. The reason for it, being from New England, we like the change of seasons. They've got the

Bruno, Paul 41
mountains to ski because my wife and I downhill snow ski. They've golf, they have lakes that we sail. I
don't want to go south. Everyone to each his own. I still have some family in New England, and I think
we're going to buy a small home out there to retire in and keep busy. I'll be anxious to see people talk
about retirement. Don't retire too early. You're not going to keep active. You're going to have get another
job. Well, financially, I don't know yet. We'll have to get another job, but as far as recreational activities,
my wife and I keep busy with golf, sailing, skiing, biking. I want to try it. I want to try sitting around, not
sitting around, but being active for a year, and after a year after I retire if I'm totally climbing the walls
then we'll do something different. But New England will be the last hurrah so to speak or whatever you
want to call it.

R: Whoa, careful.

PB: You know, I don't plan on moving again. Once I move from the Rock then we'll settle there. You
people prompted me very well. I hope I gave you enough.

LB: _________. It's really fine.

PB: I'm sure after I leave, I'll probably say to myself I should have.

LB: Keep some notes about things. We can talk again.

R: Yes, if something of particular importance comes up, jot down a paragraph about it, and add it to the

Bruno, Paul 42
transcript when you return it to us.

PB: I might want to add one other thing. This does not pertain to athletics. You know we talked about
facility within the Field House. How I'm dissatisfied with that. I'm dissatisfied about one other thing. And
this might be only pertinent to my teaching area with the new Liberal Studies Program particularly in the
natural science area. We have students majoring in physical education taking science courses within our
department. With the natural science area in the Liberal Studies Program has not helped the students at
all. I advise in the sport management area. When we're in general studies, we could use six hours of
computer as a natural science requirement. Now we can't use any. None whatsoever. People in sport
management. I'm sorry, they don't need biology, chemistry, etcetera. They could use six hours of computer
in there. Kind of what I'm upset about is are we thinking about the student or are we trying to look good
on paper of what the general studies projects. I want to be careful how I say this. The people teaching in
the natural science area I'm sure have great minds, but I've heard so many horror stories on the first day
of classes kids coming back saying, the professor said half of you will fail. I'm teaching this class as
everyone is a chemistry, bio, whatever major. And I get very frustrated and saddened that we have some
people on campus not concerned about the kids. I just throw that out.

R: Good point.

LB: Needs to be said.

R: Absolutely.

Bruno, Paul 43

R: And of any other area where they offer those kinds of pronouncements to start the class off. Forty
percent of you, the A's are going to be distributed this way, and so forth. That's a nightmare for youngsters.
It was for me. LB: It's so destructive.

PB: And when I hear stories like this, and I say to myself, are they concerned about kids? I guess their
overall Q.P. is lowered two points. Are they looking at themselves and saying, what kind of job am I
doing? Sad. Getting back to do you recommend who to take. Yes, I do. I can remember my daughter, a
geology grad.

R: But it's not a negative thing. It's a positive thing. You're saying, here are people I can recommend, but
I'm not trying to tell you that you can't...

PB: Exactly. I can remember my daughter, I forget what year it was, she failed I'll say a natural science
class, and we just ______ away for Christmas vacation _______, and we get her grades and she's crying.
I bumped into one of the professors that did some advising, and the response was, why, in hell did you let
her take him. And I said, isn't that sad that we have to do stuff like that, and that opened my eyes. I thought
every professor was going to work with kids, and it's not happening enough. You kept on prompting me
and maybe that's what it's about, but I hope you get enough information to contribute.

LB: It's important. Really good _________.

Bruno, Paul 44
PB: I'll be anxious to read the transcript. If I can think of anything else that would be beneficial, I'll call
you and say, let's do it again.

R: Or write a narrative. It would be great.

PB: Okay.

LB: Either way.

R: Thank you.