Rich Lackner

Education

A Pittsburgh native, Lackner graduated with honors from Mountain. Lebanon High School, one of Pennsylvania"s perennial high school football powers.

Career

He is currently the head football coach at Carnegie Mellon University, a position he has held since 1986. As a senior he led Mountain. Lebanon to the WPIAL Class American Automobile Association 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 pick as well as the Public Affairs Committee"s 1976 Defensive Player-of-the-Year. Also a model student, he was twice named an Academic All-American.

The Tartans advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III playoffs in 1978, marking their first postseason appearance since the 1939 Sugar Bowl. 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"s staff at the University of Pittsburgh.

Carnegie Mellon

Named head coach in 1986, Lackner has directed the Tartans to nine conference championships and two National Collegiate Athletic Association playoff berths. Lackner passed Walter Steffen, who guided Carnegie Technical 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 (UAA) under Lackner.

The Tartans own eight UAA titles and have an impressive conference record of 45–16 (738).

In May 2003, Lackner was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame. He was also awarded the Bob Prince Award during the Catholic Youth Organization"s 29th annual dinner.

Achievements

• In 1978, Lackner was named to the Pittsburgh Press All-District Team and received a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Dapper Dan Award. During his playing career, Carnegie Mellon had a four-year mark of 28–7–1 and won Public Affairs Committee titles in 1977 and 1978. 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 National Collegiate Athletic Association playoffs. He was also named All-South Region Coach of the Year by D3football.com in 2006.