In eight years at Cal U, John Luckhardt has led the charge in what has been the best run in the history of football at the school. Since taking over the program prior to the 2002 season, Luckhardt has led the Vulcans to three-consecutive NCAA Regional Championships, two appearances in the PSAC Championship Game, three-straight top-10 finishes and five-consecutive PSAC West titles.
Luckhardt has posted an astonishing 68-28 record (.719) with the Vulcans and is already the program’s all-time winningest coach. In addition to the 68 wins, some other notable accomplishments during his eight years with Cal U: only second coach in PSAC history to direct three-straight teams to the NCAA Semifinals, only coach in Cal U history to post three-straight top-10 final rankings; only second coach in Cal U history to beat Edinboro, IUP and Slippery Rock in the same season multiple times; only coach in Cal U history to guide team to consecutive PSAC Championship appearances.
Cal U’s success under Luckhardt has also extended into the classroom. In addition to more than 10 wins for the last three years, the Vulcans have had 34 different players be named PSAC Scholar-Athletes and the team recently posted its highest GPA in Spring 2010 for a semester since before 2003.
On the field, the Vulcans have produced several players who continued their football careers in the professional ranks. Last spring, four players worked out with NFL teams in mini-camps with cornerback Terrence Johnson signing with the New England Patriots and wide receiver Dominique Curry inking with the St. Louis Rams.
The Vulcans took a dominant leap as a national power in 2007. Luckhardt directed the Vulcans to a school-record 13 wins, their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Playoffs, a NCAA Regional Championship and a perfect 11-0 regular season. That season, Cal U featured the top-ranked defense in NCAA Division II and scored the most points in school history. The Vulcans suffered their only loss of the season in the NCAA Semifinals, while playing on ESPNU at Adamson Stadium against eventual-National Champion Valdosta State.
The success continued in 2008, as Luckhardt guided Cal U to another NCAA regional title and the program’s first PSAC Championship since 1987. The Vulcans again lost at home in the NCAA Semifinals on ESPN2 to eventual-National Champion Minnesota Duluth.
The Vulcans completed the three-peat in 2009, as they won the NCAA regional crown for the third-straight year. Cal U appeared in the PSAC Championship for a consecutive season behind the play of a record-setting passing attack. The Vulcans won three-straight NCAA post-season games before losing on the road to another eventual-National Champion, Northwest Missouri State.
Building a college powerhouse is nothing new to Luckhardt, who built nearby Washington & Jefferson into a national contender in NCAA Division III. Over his 17 seasons with the Presidents, he compiled a 137-37-2 record and guided W&J to 13 Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) titles, 11 appearances in the NCAA Playoffs, five regional championships and two appearances in the Stagg Bowl, the Division III Championship Game.
In 1992, Luckhardt earned AFCA/Kodak National Coach of the Year honors after guiding W&J to the school’s first-ever national championship game. Two years later, he earned Division III Coach of the Year laurels from CNN after again advancing the Presidents to the Stagg Bowl. Luckhardt has been involved in a total of six NCAA championships as both a player and coach.
In addition to coaching at W&J, Luckhardt served as Athletics Director for 12 years from 1986 to 1998. After stepping down as head coach in 1998, he served as the Director of Special Projects from 1998 to 2000.
Luckhardt received the American Football Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998 before being inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2007, he was a member of the ninth Athletic Hall of Fame Class at W&J, where he still holds the school record for most career wins at 137. From 1994 to 1998, he served on the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Board of Directors.
He started his coaching career at Division I Purdue, his alma mater, as a graduate assistant. He also coached the secondary and receivers for three years at Northern Illinois, another Division I program.
Luckhardt then spent 10 seasons at Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa., serving as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. During his tenure, the Mountain Hawks compiled a 75-25-3 record and won the 1977 NCAA Division II Championship.
As a player, Luckhardt was a center on the Boilermakers’ 1967 Rose Bowl team that defeated USC in Pasadena, Calif. He graduated from Purdue with an undergraduate degree in health and physical education before earning his master’s degree in physical education/psychology in 1970.
Luckhardt and his wife Barbara reside in Peters Twp., Pa., and have two grown children, Allison Eckenrode and Matt, and two grandchildren, Mathison Ava Eckenrode and Beatrice Alia Eckenrode. Allison lives with husband Tim and daughters, Mathison and Beatrice, in Mt. Lebanon, Pa., and Matt works as an athletic fundraiser at Cal.
LUCKHARDT YEAR-BY-YEAR COACHING RECORD
| Year |
Overall
Record |
Win Pct. |
Conference
Record (Finish) |
Post-Season |
Final Rank |
2002
|
6-5
|
.545
|
1-5 (t-6th)
|
|
|
2003
|
4-7
|
.364
|
2-4 (t-4th)
|
|
|
| 2004 |
6-4 |
.600 |
2-4 (t-4th) |
|
|
| 2005 |
8-2 |
.800 |
5-1 (t-1st) |
|
|
| 2006 |
8-3 |
.727 |
5-1 (t-1st) |
|
|
| 2007 |
13-1 |
.929 |
6-0 (1st) |
NCAA Semifinals |
No. 4 AFCA |
| 2008 |
12-2 |
.857 |
7-0 (1st) |
PSAC Champions
NCAA Semifinals |
No. 6 AFCA |
| 2009 |
11-4 |
.733 |
7-0 (1st) |
PSAC Runner-Up
NCAA Semifinals |
No. 7 AFCA |
| TOTALS |
68-28 |
.708 |
35-15 (.700) |
|
|
updated as of Aug. 16, 2010
