Rich Lackner

College coach infobox
Name = Rich Lackner


Caption = Carnegie Mellon Head Coach Rich Lackner
Birthplace = flagicon|Pennsylvania Pittsburgh, PA
DateOfDeath =
Sport = Football
College = Carnegie Mellon University
Conference = UAA
Title = Head coach
CurrentRecord = 156-64-2
Awards = UAA Coach of the Year (1990, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2006)
Bob Prince Award(2003)
All-South Region Coach of the Year(2006)
Championships = 8 UAA Championships
2 ECAC Bowl Championships
Coach = Y
CoachYears = 1986-"present"
CoachTeams = Carnegie Mellon
FootballHOF = Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame, inducted 2003

Rich Lackner is the head football coach of the Carnegie Mellon Tartans. As a head coach, he has compiled a career record of 156-64-2 (.705).

Playing career

A Pittsburgh native, Lackner graduated with honors from Mt. Lebanon High School, one of Pennsylvania's perennial football powers. As a senior he led Mt. Lebanon to the WPIAL Class AAA title game with a 9-2 record.

Lackner himself 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 PAC's 1976 Defensive Player-of-the-Year. In 1978 Lackner was named to the Pittsburgh Press All-District Team and received a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Dapper Dan Award. Also a model student, he was twice named an Academic All-American.

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 Playoffs in 1978, marking their first postseason appearance since the 1939 Sugar Bowl.

Early 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's staff at Pitt.

Head Coaching

Named head coach in 1986, Lackner has directed the Tartans to a 156-64-2 (.705) record, nine conference championships and two NCAA playoff berths. Lackner passed Walter Steffen, who guided Carnegie Tech to an 88-53-8 mark from 1914-32, as the winningest coach in school history on Sept. 19, 1998 as 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). Lackner has been named the UAA Coach of the Year five times, in 1990, '91, '93, '97 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 Hall of Fame. He was also awarded the Bob Prince Award during the Catholic Youth Organization's 29th annual dinner.

Family

Lackner and his wife, Cindy, have two children, Nick, 27, who is a graduate of John Carroll University and holds a MSc Degree from Columbia University and Kimberly, 25, who is a 2005 graduate of Carnegie Mellon.

Head coaching record

CFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1986
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 6-3-0
conference = PAC
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1987
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 7-2-1
conference = PAC
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1988
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 5-4-1
conference = PAC
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 1989
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 7-3-0
conference = PAC
confstanding = Co-Champions
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 1990
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 10-1-0
conference = UAA
confstanding = Champions
bowlname = NCAA Playoffs
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 1991
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 9-1-0
conference = UAA
confstanding = Champions
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1992
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 7-2-0
conference = UAA
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 1993
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 8-2-0
conference = UAA
confstanding = Champions
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 1994
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 7-3-0
conference = UAA
confstanding = Co-Champions
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 1995
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 7-3-0
conference = UAA
confstanding = Co-Champions
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 1996
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 7-3-0
conference = UAA
confstanding = Co-Champions
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 1997
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 8-2-0
conference = UAA
confstanding = Champions
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 1998
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 7-3-0
conference = UAA
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = division
year = 1999
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 8-3-0
conference = UAA
confstanding =
bowlname = ECAC South
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2000
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 6-4-0
conference = UAA
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2001
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 7-2-0
conference = UAA
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2002
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 5-5-0
conference = UAA
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2003
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 6-4-0
conference = UAA
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2004
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 6-4-0
conference = UAA
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship =
year = 2005
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 5-5-0
conference = UAA
confstanding =
bowlname =
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = conference
year = 2006
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 11-1-0
conference = UAA
confstanding = Champions
bowlname = NCAA Playoffs
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = noCFB Yearly Record Entry
championship = division
year = 2007
name = Carnegie Mellon
overall = 7-4-0
conference = UAA
confstanding =
bowlname = ECAC Southwest
bowloutcome =
bcsbowl =
ranking =
ranking2 = no

External links

* [http://www.cmu.edu/athletics/intercollegiate-sports/mens-teams/football/head-coach.html Rich Lackner] at Carnegie Mellon University