Rich Lackner (born July 28, 1956) is an American former

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach. He is served as the head football coach at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

from 1986 to 2021, compiling a record of 234–125–2.

Playing career

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

native, Lackner graduated with honors from Mt. Lebanon High School, one of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

's perennial high school football powers. As a senior, he led Mt. Lebanon to the

WPIAL The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL, pronounced ) is an interscholastic athletic association in Western Pennsylvania. It is District 7 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. History The Western ...

Class AAA title game with a 9–2 record. Lackner had an exceptional athletic and academic career at Carnegie Mellon. A four-year starter at linebacker, he was a three-time All-

Presidents' Athletic Conference The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 11 member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, nine are located in Western Penn ...

pick as well as the PAC's 1976 Defensive Player-of-the-Year. In 1978, Lackner was named to the

Pittsburgh Press ''The Pittsburgh Press'', formerly ''The Pittsburg Press'' and originally ''The Evening Penny Press'', was a major afternoon daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for over a century, from 1884 to 1992. At the height of its popul ...

All-District Team and received a ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving Greater Pittsburgh, metropolitan Pittsburgh in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the fi ...

'' Dapper Dan Award. Also a model student, he was twice named an

Academic All-American An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the ...

. During his playing career, Carnegie Mellon had a four-year mark of 28–7–1 and won PAC titles in 1977 and 1978. The Tartans advanced to the NCAA Division III playoffs in 1978, marking their first postseason appearance since the 1939 Sugar Bowl.

Coaching career

Following his 1979 graduation from Carnegie Mellon with a bachelor's degree in history, Lackner remained with head coach

Chuck Klausing Chuck Klausing (April 19, 1925 – February 15, 2018) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania from 1964 to 1969 and at Carnegie Mellon University from 1976 to 1985, com ...

as an assistant coach. Seven years later, Lackner was named head coach when Klausing left to join

Mike Gottfried Mike Gottfried (born December 17, 1944) is an American sportscaster and former college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Murray State University (1978–1980), the University of Cincinnati (1981–1982), the Uni ...

's staff at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

Carnegie Mellon

Named head coach in 1986, Lackner directed the Tartans to nine conference championships and three NCAA playoff berths. Lackner passed Walter Steffen, who guided Carnegie Tech to an 88–53–8 mark from 1914 to 1932, as the winningest coach in school history on September 19, 1998 when the Tartans defeated Bethany College, 38–7. Carnegie Mellon rose to unprecedented prominence in the

University Athletic Association The University Athletic Association (UAA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference that competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are highly selective universities located in Georgia, Illino ...

(UAA) under Lackner. The Tartans own eight UAA titles and have an impressive conference record of 45–16 (.738). Lackner was named the UAA Coach of the Year five times, in 1990, 1991, 1993, 1997, and, most recently, in 2006 after leading the Tartans to an 11–1 season, the most wins in school history and their sixth appearance in the NCAA playoffs. He was also named All-South Region Coach of the Year by D3football.com in 2006. In May 2003, Lackner was inducted into the

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the Unite ...

Hall of Fame. He was also awarded the

Bob Prince Robert Ferris Prince (July 1, 1916 – June 10, 1985) was an American radio and television sportscaster and commentator, best known for his 28-year stint as the voice of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball club, with whom he earned the ...

Award during the

Catholic Youth Organization Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) is an international Catholic youth movement founded by Bishop Bernard Sheil in Chicago in 1930. It became a major factor in the development of race relations in the US Catholic Church following World War II. ...

's 29th annual dinner.

Family

Lackner and his late wife, Cindy, have two children, Nick, who is a graduate of

John Carroll University John Carroll University (JCU) is a Private university, private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio, United States. Located in a suburb of Cleveland, it is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts college, liberal arts institution compo ...

and holds a MSc degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and Kimberly, who is a 2005 graduate of Carnegie Mellon.

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

Carnegie Mellon profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lackner, Rich 1956 births Living people American football linebackers Carnegie Mellon Tartans football coaches Carnegie Mellon Tartans football players Mt. Lebanon High School alumni Sportspeople from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pittsburgh