School: Beaver Falls | Sport: Football
As a player, he was a rugged, hard-running fullback. Even so, Larry Bruno is best known for the impression he made on the high school football players in his charge at both Monaca and Beaver Falls. A standout in both basketball and football at St. Aloysius grade school and for the Potters at East Liverpool High School in Ohio, Bruno crossed the state line to attend Geneva College where he lettered in both sports. His education was interrupted by World War ll. He served in the South Pacific at Guadalcanal. Upon being discharged, Larry returned to "College Hill" where he was named First Team All-State in 1946, Honorable Mention All-America, and Second Team Little All-American. He played in the 1947 East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco then was drafted by the Los Angeles Dons and Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite signing with the black and gold, Bruno played one season of semi-pro ball, then gave it up to accept a more lucrative position as a high school teacher and coach. At Monaca, Larry began his head coaching career at the junior high level with the football and basketball teams in 1947, One year later, he was elevated to varsity coach in both sports. Under Coach Bruno, Monaca's basketball teams won three section titles and 160 games, dropping 60. In football, the Indians went 52-33-6 in his 1 1 campaigns. He landed the job as Head Football Coach at Beaver Falls beginning with the 1959 season and led the Fighting Tigers to a record of 148-5010. Along the way, his 1960 team, quarterbacked by Joe Namath, went 10-0 and was crowned WPIAL Class AA Champion. The 1961 "Fallsmen" were again perfect in 10 games, but did not qualify for the playoffs under the Gardner Points System. Larry's last squad advanced to, but fell in, the 1978 WPIAL Championship Game and finished 11-1. Like the amateur magician he was, Coach Bruno's teams were known for their innovative and deceptive style of play. After his retirement, Larry served as Namath's presenter at his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction and continued to attract many of the nation's top college and high school coaches, along with hundreds of local players, to his annual Larry Bruno Football Camp. Founded after his passing, the Larry Bruno Foundation continues to expand its Hall of Achievement and History Center located in the Carnegie Free Library of Beaver Falls, and provides scholarships and offerings to students for their academic and athletic achievements.