Rich Lackner (born July 28, 1956) is an American former college football coach. He is served as the head football coach at Carnegie Mellon University from 1986 to 2021, compiling a record of 234–125–2.

Playing career

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

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

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

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

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

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 athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Of its 11 current member schools, all private, liberal arts institutions of higher learning, nine are located in Western Pennsylvania. T ...

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, from 1884 to 1992. At one time, the ''Press'' was the second larg ...

All-District Team and received a ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Alle ...

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

Academic All-American The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are giv ...

. 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 The 1939 Sugar Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 2, 1939 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 5th edition of the Sugar Bowl, it matched the TCU Horned Frogs against the Carnegie Tech Tartans. This was the first Sugar Bowl played ...

Coaching career

Following his 1979 graduation from Carnegie Mellon with a bachelor's degree in history, Lackner remained with head coach Chuck Klausing 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 a sportscaster and former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Murray State University (1978–1980), the University of Cincinnati (1981–1982), the University of ...

's staff at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

Carnegie Mellon

Named head coach in 1986, Lackner has directed the Tartans to nine conference championships and two NCAA playoff berths. Lackner passed

Walter Steffen Walter Peter Steffen (October 9, 1886 – March 9, 1937) was an American college football player and coach, lawyer, politician, and judge. He emerged on the national scene as a high school quarterback, leading his North Division High School team ...

, 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 has risen to unprecedented prominence in the

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

(UAA) under Lackner. The Tartans own eight UAA titles and have an impressive conference record of 45–16 (.738). Lackner has been 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 U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

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'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 is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3 ...

and holds a MSc degree from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, 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 Sportspeople from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pittsburgh