Russell Miller Faulkinberry (November 3, 1928 – November 16, 2005) was an American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Southwestern Louisiana—now known as the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

—from 1961 to 1973, compiling a record of 66–63–2. Faulkinberry played

as a tackle at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

from 1947 to 1950. As a senior, he was captain of the 1950 Vanderbilt Commodores football team and was named to the 1950 All-SEC football team. Faulkinberry was an assistant coach at

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it becam ...

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, and the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Universit ...

before he was hired at Southwestern Louisiana. He died on November 16, 2005 after a long illness. Faulkinberry was the son of football coach

Frank Faulkinberry Frank Albert Faulkinberry (November 27, 1887 – May 13, 1933) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. Early years Frank was born on November 27, 1887 in Lincoln County, Tennessee to Christopher Columbus Faulkinberry ...

. Faulkinberry's tenure brought about the change of Southwestern Louisiana's fight name from the "Bulldogs" to the "Raging Cajuns". One of his assistant coaches once remarked, "Go out there and rage like a bunch of Cajuns!" The phrase stuck both because a majority of the players were from south Louisiana and because fans, students, and alumni loved the phrase. Later on, the

University of Southwestern Louisiana The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

trademarked the phrase and, to this day, the sports teams are known as the "Ragin' Cajuns."

Military service

Faulkinberry served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Death

Faulkinberry died on November 16, 2005, in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

, at the age of 77. He was buried in Lafayette Memorial Park.

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faulkinberry, Russ 1928 births 2005 deaths American football tackles Iowa State Cyclones football coaches Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches Southeastern Louisiana Lions football coaches Texas A&M Aggies football coaches Vanderbilt Commodores football players United States Navy personnel of the Korean War Sportspeople from Murfreesboro, Tennessee Coaches of American football from Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee Military personnel from Tennessee