Frank " Buck " O ' Neill Frank J . " Buck " O ' Neill ( March 6 , 1875 – April 21 , 1958 ) was an American football player and coach . He served as head football coach at Colgate University ( 1902 , 1904 – 1905 ) , Syracuse University ( 1906 – 1907 , 1913 – 1915 , 1917 – 1919 ) , and Columbia University ( 1920 – 1922 ) , compiling a career college football coaching record of 81 – 41 – 8 . O ’ Neill was a two - sport athlete at Williams College where he played football and ran track . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1951 . College athlete . O ' Neill was a two - sport athlete at Williams College in Williamstown , Massachusetts . He lettered in football in 1899 , 1900 , and 1901 and served as captain his senior year under coach J . J . Hazen . The team he captained had an overall record of 6 – 4 with losses to Harvard , Dartmouth , Columbia , and Army . Even with those losses , O ' Neill led team did go on to win the 1901 Tricollegiante Football Association championship with victories over league rivals Wesleyan and Amherst . O ' Neill also lettered three times in track where he ran the 440 . As in football , he captained the track team his senior year . He placed third in the 440 at the 1901 New England Intercollegiate Athletic Association annual championship at the Worcester Oval in Worcester , Massachusetts . Williams College won the meet by less than a point . College coach . O ' Neill was the tenth head football coach at Colgate University and held that position for three seasons between 1902 and 1905 . He coached at Syracuse University at three different times . After 1915 , the year O ' Neill founded his law practice in New York City , he had to cut back on his coaching duties . In his last three years at Syracuse , he acted more as an advisor than a full - time coach . Even with this arrangement , he was successful including in 1919 when the Orange gave Pittsburgh its first loss in five years . O ' Neill moved to Columbia for 1920 season . Since his law office and his new team was in the New York City , he was able to spend more time with his football team . Unlike the previous football coaches at Columbia , O ' Neill did not have to be a member of the physical education department . The goal for Columbia was to restore football to the standing it had when the last nationally - known coach Foster Sanford resigned in 1904 . O ' Neill guided Columbia to a winning record in his last of three years . He left to devote his full time to his law practice after the 1922 season . In his last game at Columbia , he suffered one of his worse losses in his career , a 59 – 6 blow out to his old school , Colgate , on Thanksgiving Day . O ' Neill ' s overall coaching record was 81 – 41 – 8 . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951 , where he is a charter member . Professional football coach . In 1902 , O ' Neill resurrected the Syracuse Athletic Club , to take part in the 1902 World Series of Football , held at Madison Square Garden . O ' Neill conducted daily practices in preparation for the series . Syracuse then defeated the " New York " team in what has been called the first indoor professional football game . The final score of the game was recorded as 6 – 0 , but in reality it was 5 – 0 , since touchdowns only counted for five points in 1902 and Syracuse ' s Pop Warner missed the extra point . Warner later suffered a head injury and was replace by " New York ' s " Blondy Wallace . Syracuse went on to win the Series with a 36 – 0 victory over the Orange Athletic Club .