Benjamin Shenstone "Sport" Donnelly (October 18, 1869 – August 3, 1922) was an American football player and coach.
In 1893, Donnelly was hired by the Allegheny Athletic Association as player-coach, making him the first man to ever coach a known pro team.
[1] Heffelfinger once said that Donnelly was the only man that he had played against who "could slug you and at the same time keep his eyes on the ball".
[2] Donnelly also served as the second head football coach at the University of Iowa for a single season in 1893, compiling a record of 3–4.
The Alleghenys were then told word that more than half of the Chicago players would be willing to come to Pittsburgh as soon as their team finished its traditional eastern tour.
[5] Donnelly, Langdon Lea, and Heffelfinger also reportedly played some games on the West Coast during the mid-1890s.
[6] In 1891, he was made an assistant coach at Purdue University by his friend Knowlton Ames.