Cleo A . O ' Donnell Cleo A . O ' Donnell ( c . 1886 – February 15 , 1953 ) was an American football player and coach . He played college football at Holy Cross from 1904 to 1907 . He was a football coach at Everett High School ( 1909 – 1915 ) , Purdue University ( 1916 – 1917 ) , Holy Cross ( 1919 – 1930 ) and Saint Anselm College ( 1935 – 1940 ) . His 1914 Everett team has been ranked as the greatest high school football team of all time , finishing with a 13 – 0 record and outscoring opponents 600 to 0 . In 11 years as the head coach at Holy Cross , his teams compiled a record of 69 – 27 – 6 . O ' Donnell has been inducted into the Holy Cross and Saint Anselm Halls of Fame . Biography . A native of Charlestown , Massachusetts , O ' Donnell attended the Boston Latin School before enrolling at the College of Holy Cross in 1904 . He played four years for the Holy Cross Crusaders football team . He was a tackle in the 1904 and 1905 seasons , and end in 1906 , and a fullback in 1907 . In the final game of the 1906 season , played at the Polo Grounds , O ' Donnell scored both of Holy Cross ' s touchdowns in 15 – 6 win over Fordham . He was selected by his teammates as captain of the 1907 team . His final game for Holy Cross was a 34 – 0 loss to Fordham . Despite the one - sided game , " The New York Times " singled out " O ' Donnell ' s Pretty Play " as the feature of the contest . The " Times " wrote : " Again and again by the sheer force of his phenomenal running O ' Donnell took the ball through the Fordham line and gained a dozen first downs . In fact , not once during the whole progress of the game was the remarkable back stopped for a loss , but , unsupported as he was , the herculean task of beating a well - drilled eleven was too much for him . . . . Several stretches of thirty yards were made by his rushing , but eventually Holy Cross was forced to kick , and their advances ended there . " O ' Donnell graduated from Holy Cross in 1908 and began his coaching career at Somerville High School , Somerville , Massachusetts . In September 1909 , he was hired as the football coach at Everett High School , Everett , Massachusetts . He served as the head coach at Everett for seven years from 1909 to 1915 . His teams won championships in five of the seven seasons that O ' Donnell was the coach . In 13 games , O ' Donnell ' s 1914 Everett team went 13 – 0 and outscored opponents 600 to 0 . In the national championship of high school football , Everett , the best team in the East , was matched against Oak Park High School from Illinois , the best team in the West . Everett defeated Oak Park 80 to 0 . The " Boston Evening Transcript " wrote at the time , " Since Cleo O ' Donnell took charge of the Suburban League school ' s athletics , he has had remarkable success , but this year ' s team is his masterpiece . " Seventy years later , " Sports Illustrated " published a feature story on the 1914 Everett team , declaring it possibly the greatest high school football team of all time . O ' Donnell became known for the stylish suits he wore on the sidelines at Everett and developed a reputation as " a demanding perfectionist . " As the coach at Everett , O ' Donnell compiled a record of 68 – 8 – 6 , and through one stretch between 1913 and 1915 his team shut out all opponents in 25 consecutive games . In March 1916 , O ' Donnell was hired as the head football coach at Purdue University . In two seasons as the coach at Purdue , his teams lost eight out of nine games against Western Conference opponents and compiled an overall record of 5 – 8 – 1 . In August 1919 , O ' Donnell returned his alma mater as the head football coach of the Holy Cross Crusaders . He remained the head coach at Holy Cross from 1919 through 1929 . In his 11 years at Holy Cross , his teams posted a combined record of 69 – 27 – 6 . He never had a losing season at Holy Cross , and his 1923 team outscored opponents 272 to 29 . In early 1930 , O ' Donnell stepped down as head football coach at Holy Cross , but remained at the school as athletic director until December 1933 . In April 1935 , O ' Donnell was hired as the head football coach and athletic director at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown , New Hampshire . O ' Donnell was the head coach at Saint Anselm for six seasons from 1935 to 1940 . In January 1941 , O ' Donnell resigned his position at Saint Anselm . In 1945 , O ' Donnell was hired as the high school football coach at Fitchburg , Massachusetts . In February 1953 , O ' Donnell collapsed and died suddenly while attending a testimonial dinner for his former pupil , Harry McMahon , at Southbridge , Massachusetts . His son Kenneth O ' Donnell was an aide to President John F Kennedy , and his grandson Kevin M . O ' Donnell is the co - founder of Earthlink . O ' Donnell was inducted into the Holy Cross Athletics Hall of Fame in 1962 . He was also inducted into Saint Anselm College ' s Anselmian Athletic Club Hall of Fame in 1985 .