Different paths, same destination
SLIPPERY ROCK — They arrived on the Slippery Rock University campus via different circumstances.
Now LaMonte Coleman and Brandon Fusco will forever be a part of Rock football lore as SRU Athletic Hall of Famers. Both were inducted during the university’s annual Hall of Fame banquet Saturday.
“Both of those guys are tremendous stories,” retired SRU football coach George Mihalik said. “They both succeeded in getting to the NFL from a Division II school because that takes work ethic and commitment.
“They had both of those things. They are two first-class people.”
Coleman was a heavily-recruited running back from the Pittsburgh area. A number of Division I schools, including Penn State, were interested in him. But his SAT scores were low and he came to The Rock as a Proposition 48 player, having to sit out a year.
He couldn’t compete in Division I athletics out of high school because his SAT score did not meet the minimum standard.
“Coach Mihalik sold me on coming here,” Coleman said. “He knew my goal was to play in the NFL and I knew he could get me there. This was Running Back U, I figured. Ricky Porter, Greg Paterra, Chuckie Sanders ... they all played here and they all got there.”
Fusco came out of Seneca Valley as a 225-pound lineman who was not recruited by any major school and hardly any Division II programs.
“Brandon knew what he wanted to be and was willing to work hard to get there,” Mihalik said.
Both left their mark on The Rock. And both reached the NFL.
Coleman still holds SRU records of 306 yards rushing in a single game (1993 vs. Edinboro) and 21 single-season rushing touchdowns in 1994. His 3,166 career rushing yards rank sixth in Rock history and his 37 touchdowns are fifth on SRU’s all-time list. He was a two-year starter for The Rock.
“We got Lamonte through Prop 48 when all of those big schools turned their back on him,” Mihalik said. “He made himself into an NFL prospect while he was here. Brandon did the same thing.”
Coleman made the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent and was on the team’s Super Bowl XXX roster. He also played a few years in the National Indoor Football League, being named that league’s Offensive MVP while scoring 38 touchdowns for the Johnstown J-Dogs in 2001.
“I loved my time here,” Coleman said. “I grew up as a person here. Making the Hall of Fame means the world to me.”
“I never met LaMonte until this weekend,” Fusco said. “What an outstanding individual. All of the people who made this Hall of Fame, just being part of it, is very special.”
Fusco was inducted into the Seneca Valley Sports Hall of Fame earlier this year. His playing weight was 305 pounds his senior year and he won the Gene Upshaw Award as Division II Lineman of the Year at center that season. Fusco became a consensus All-American in 2010, played in the Senior Bowl, and became the highest drafted player in SRU history when the Minnesota Vikings picked him in the sixth round in 2011.
Fusco went on to start 87 NFL games for the Vikings, 49ers and Falcons from 2011-18. He was the Vikings’ starting right guard the year Adrian Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards.
“A true success story,” Mihalik said of Fusco. “Just plain determination. That was it.”
When asked about his favorite memory of SRU, Fusco pointed to the stands during halftime of Saturday night’s Rock home game vs. Mercyhurst.
“This right here,” he said. “I loved our night games here. The atmosphere, the energy, were awesome. Just the feeling I got running out on to the field is something I’ll never forget. This is such a special place.”
He won’t forget his Rock teammates, either.
“The camaraderie I had with my teammates in college ... It was stronger than anything I experienced in high school or the pros,” he said. “This really is a special brotherhood. I still keep in touch with most of my teammates.
“The football bond we had here was so strong. It’s something I’ll appreciate my entire life.”
