Nov. 7, 2000

EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Former Lafayette College head football coach Bill Russo, the winningest football coach in Lafayette history, will be honored at the All-American Football Foundation's Banquet of Champions XXIX on Thursday, Nov. 30, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Princeton, N.J.

Russo, who led Lafayette to Patriot League titles in 1988, 1992, and 1994, will be presented the Johnny Vaught Lifetime Achievement Award.

Russo, who earned the Eddie Robinson Award as the top coach in NCAA Division I-AA in 1988, coached the Leopards from 1981-99 and recorded a 19-year record of 103-98-4.

Others to be honored by the All-American Football Foundation at the annual banquet include former college head coaches Dick Vermeil (UCLA), Sam Rutigliano (Liberty), Joe Kuharich (San Francisco and Notre Dame), sportswriter Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News, former Penn State placekicker Chris Bahr, and former University of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Ealges standout Chuck Bednarik.

Tickets for the formal banquet are $125 and may be obtained by contacting John Garner at (508) 771-6212.