Dec 13, 2020 9 min read

Alan Natali loved the loudness, playfulness, togetherness and sometime craziness of a football locker room.

At the same time, he gets as much satisfaction from long walks through the woods with his dogs – Calianne and Fitzgerald Francis – or quiet time in thought or reading a book.

Natali was an excellent football player at California Area High School and California State College. He was an All-WPIAL guard for California in 1969. In addition to serving as the Trojans’ captain, he also was an honorable mention All-State selection his senior year.

Natali, 68, joined Cal’s football team in the fall of 1970 and started as a defensive end and linebacker for the Vulcans from 1971 to 1973. In his three seasons, Natali was named an All-Conference defensive end and linebacker, All-NAIA District 18 defensive end, All-State linebacker and All-College linebacker. He also served as the Vulcans’ team captain.

He graduated from Cal in 1974 with a degree in English and later earned a master’s degree in English from Cal. Natali also earned several credits in a doctoral program at Carnegie Mellon, where his goal was to work on his writing skills, not get a Ph.D.

By all accounts, Natali was an excellent professor at his alma mater, and a genuinely good friend to many.

He’s written two books – another is in its final stages – and was one of the most popular instructors and personalities at Cal. He was a skillful, energetic and committed instructor of English, writing and any related subject.

Natali is as complex as he is basic. “A jock and a nerd all in one as a college student,” he says.

His duties at California University ranged from being a student athlete to a professor. In between, he was a football coach and sports information director.

In addition to those jobs, he also served as the California Times faculty advisor. In his retirement, he continues as a professional writer. He also does some carpentry.

“I’m beginning to think I prefer carpentry,” he quipped in a note. “I basically went nuts for seven years researching these books. I can cut boards without losing my mind.”

He and his wife, Bethanne, reside in California.

“I tremendously enjoyed football,” Natali said. “It wasn’t the winning or losing. It was the lessons learned. It was the friends that I made, lifelong friends. The guys I played with in college are my closest friends today.

“It was learning about leaning on one another, being there for your teammates through the discipline, the hard work and the cooperation. The valuable part of sports is who you meet and the relationships you maintain.”

Natali built the same kind of relationships off the field. He lived in two distinctly different worlds as an undergraduate at Cal.

“I was a football jock and an English major,” Natali said. “I liked to exercise, play sports and read books.

“I was in class with people unlike anyone I was playing with on the football team. I think some of my classmates were suspicious of me.”

Ted “Doc” Gialames, a teammate and longtime friend, said Natali fit in any situation on the field or in the classroom.

“Alan was, and is, there for anyone,” Gialames said. “He was the most liberal person on our team. He loved everybody, no matter where you were from, what you believed or what your skill level was. He was always your friend. We all realized that.

“Alan could hang around jocks or be around an intellectual group. He was friends with a couple hippies. He just fit in with anybody. He had some bizarre friends. He treated everyone the same.”

Masters of English

Natali had a special relationship with the late Ron Forsythe through English, writing and friendship. First, he was Forsythe’s student, then a colleague.

Forsythe was Natali’s mentor, personal editor and confidant. And more.

Natali has published two books – “Woody’s Boys,” a collection of remembrances of Ohio State University coach Woody Hayes and “Brown’s Town: 20 Famous Browns Talk Amongst Themselves,” a chronicle of the life of Paul Brown, former coach of the Cleveland Browns and founder of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Prior to publishing his books, Natali worked for “Ohio Magazine” as a full-time and award-winning author and contributing editor. He caught on with the publication when he wrote a story on the Hardhats – a semi-professional football team in Youngstown, Ohio.

Natali met Forsythe, who like Natali was an athlete of distinction, having pitched in the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers chains from 1955 to1960, when Natali was an 18-year-old freshman.

“He’d come over every Friday for a beer or coffee and he’d make me read a chapter to him. He was blunt. He’d tell me certain parts weren’t good. He’d say what do you need this for? He didn’t spare my feelings. It’s the last thing I did before sending out a chapter.

“The Friday meetings went on until Ron’s death (2006). He introduced me to this world of words and the world of literature in a way which sparked a never-ending romance. I could never repay that gift. We became the closest friends.”

Natali said one his most memorable non-athletic experiences at Cal was sitting in Noss Hall, where he had an American Literature Genres class.

His professor would perform voices and acted out the parts of every book he taught. Natali said he was fascinated.

“I knew in the back of my mind that I wanted to write at that time,” he added. “It was so wonderful to see someone who enjoyed literature and enjoyed writing so much and was so enthusiastic about it that the world didn’t mean anything to him once he started his performance during every class.”

Natali carried that excitement and enthusiasm into his classroom as a professor.

“To my mind, the most rewarding and important thing I ever did was to teach other people’s kids,” he said. “It was a great privilege.”

One of Natali’s students, David “D.X.” Ferris credits a great deal of his success to Natali and his teachings. Ferris is part of Bloomsbury Press’ 33-1/3 series of books. The Ohio resident has written nine books and in these parts is known as the official biographer of Donnie Iris, “The Story of Donnie Iris and the Cruisers.”

“Alan was not some touchy, feely English teacher,” said Ferris, a 1990 graduate of California High School and 1995 Cal graduate. “He taught his students to go out and see what it is like. He gave us the steps to follow. Mr. Forsythe gave me the grammar and writing. Alan taught me how to (write) professionally.

“He was a nuts and bolts teacher who showed you how to get the good stuff. He was a combination of (those basics) and a master stylist.”

Ironically, Ferris’ father – Sumner J. Ferris – taught Natali at Cal.

“I was fortunate to be part of Cal U’s legendary English Department,” the younger Ferris said. “The hands-on experience Alan gave us is what made him stand out. As a working writer, he gave you all the bases to cover. He has run the marathon and the triathlon (in writing). My whole career is based on (my father’s) playbook. Most of which is Alan’s. He was all about coming into the office and working and crafting on deadline with discipline and style.”

Cal always home

Natali spent a lot of time on the football field at Cal as a boy. His father Elmo, who died in 2019, is a legend at the school. Elmo Natali was an outstanding football player there and later served as an assistant coach and head coach for the Vulcans. He also was an administrator. The University’s student center is named for him.

Alan played for his father as a senior.

“I had three years in, it probably wasn’t as big of a deal had I been a freshman or sophomore,” he said. “Playing for him after having that much experience was not as trying or as difficult as it could have been.”

The elder Natali urged his son to pursue baseball. Alan Natali was a good baseball player growing up. But he wanted to play football.

“Baseball was just to staid of a sport for me,” Natali said. “I liked violence and contact, the screaming high volume. I love football. I probably should have stuck with baseball.”

The Natalis spent a lot of time playing catch and Alan had countless batting practice sessions trying to hit his dad’s best stuff.

In the end, it was Elmo Natali who wouldn’t let his son walk away from football.

“I was in eighth grade at Elizabeth Forward junior high,” Alan Natali recalled. “He wouldn’t sign the permission slip for me to play football and told me to play baseball. I snuck the permission slip to my mother (Norma), and she signed it.

“The first day of football, we practiced on an uneven baseball infield. It was gravel and stone. The first day they put us through practice on it. Imagine doing up downs on gravel and slag. I came home and told my dad he was right. I didn’t want to play football. He told me to get my (butt) out there every day and that I would not quit.”

Alan Natali was inducted into the California University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.

It’s a good thing Elmo Natali wouldn’t allow his son to fold.

“Alan loved football, he loved playing and the contact,” said Tim Tracy, a teammate and longtime friend. “He was smart and intelligent. He knew the game, on top of everything. We trusted him. You could count on him. He was fun to watch.”

Gialames remembered his first camp at Cal during his freshman year. Natali was there, participated in drills, ate with the team.

“We didn’t know who he was,” Gialames said. “After we ate, he was gone. He made an impression. When we found out he was a high school senior … he was ready for college ball then.”

Football and writing have intertwined lessons.

“You keep getting knocked down. Can you keep getting back up?” Natali asked. “You find out when you’re tired, hurt and sick of being ridiculed what you’re made of. You find out that you can endure.”