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Mario Russo wrote his own eulogy.
Without knowing it.
After former University of Wisconsin football coach John Jardine died of heart failure at age 54 in 1990, there was an outpouring of tributes from coaches, players, friends and fans.
Among the most genuine Jardine testimonials was from Russo, who coached the UW linebackers during the 1976 and 1977 seasons, Jardine’s final two years at Wisconsin.
“He was a good soul, a really good soul,” Russo told me. “As a human being, he was phenomenal. Just a helluva guy. I have a great deal of respect for John.
“If you didn’t know a thing about John Jardine, and you met him for the first time, you’d say he’s a Madison guy, a Wisconsin man and a die-hard Badger.”
Pausing to take a deep breath, Russo added, “A lot of people are going to miss him because he meant so much to a lot of people.”
It could not have been said better. And now it’s being said again today about Russo through an outpouring of tributes and testimonials from coaches, players, friends and fans.
Mario Russo passed away Sunday. He was 93.
A memorial Mass will be held at 1 p.m. Aug. 15 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. until the service. A reception will follow the Mass.
What should we say about Mario Russo?
In his own words:
He was a good soul. Just a helluva guy.
Madison guy. Wisconsin man. Die-hard Badger.
“He’s most known for his sports accolades, but he was a man of great faith,” Mike Russo, 60, said of his dad. “He would go to church basically every day if he could.
“He was also so, so genuine to people. Anyone who met him felt they were his friend and they were important to him.
“Even though he never remembered names, he would always go up and shake their hand and ask how they’re doing and ask how their kids are doing.
“He was truly interested and cared about people. I know it’s a cliché. But he really did care about people. He was infectious. I didn’t know anyone who didn’t like the guy.
“He cared about other people more so than himself.”
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It was something echoed by everybody familiar with Russo, an on-field coach for Jardine and Dave McClain and an administrative assistant to Jim Hilles and Don Morton.
In 1990, Russo, then 57, was named UW’s Big Red Club coordinator and his duties involved fundraising with development people like John Swenson and Todd Kuckkahn.
No matter the assignment, Russo attacked it with an endless smile and boundless energy. He was someone who would bend over backward to please. And to hear.
He struggled to hear.
But he made the most of it.
Pressed to describe Russo, ex-UW tight end Dave Arneson reinforced a common theme by saying, “He was a kind man that asked, listened and cared how you were doing.”
Once news got out that his father had passed away, Mike Russo was overwhelmed by the reaction of so many people who were grateful for his presence in their lives.
“Holy smokes,” he said. “The number of his old football players who have been calling me and saying such nice things is what stuck out to me the most.”
One response moved Russo to tears. It was from Joe Rothbauer, a center and three-year lettermen on the UW offensive line and co-captain with Dave Ahrens of the 1980 team.
Said Russo, “He sent me a beautiful note saying second to his father my dad was the most important person in his life. It’s telling. He touched a lot of people.”
Coaching in Wisconsin, Italy
On Tuesday, Russo was packing and moving his dad’s belongings from his apartment. He came across some family pictures and keepsakes.
Mario Russo was raised in Fossalto, Italy on a small farm in the Apennine Mountains. It was a dirt floor farmhouse with no electricity or plumbing, Mike said.
His dad proudly hung the “old country” pictures on the wall. There was a championship trophy on the mantle from the European American football league.
In the ’90s, Russo coached the Bologna (Italy) Warriors to titles and earned the moniker, “Super Mario.” In 2005, at age 72, he went back to Bologna and coached again.
Football was in his DNA.
Outdoors. Or indoors.
It’s why Russo didn’t hesitate to try his hand coaching two teams in the professional Indoor Football League: the Green Bay Bombers and Madison Mad Dogs.
What was driving him to coach?
“People play golf forever,” he explained. “I coach.”
Former Wisconsin Badgers running back Brent Moss, right, appears with Mario Russo in March 2000 to announce that Moss will play for the Madison Mad Dogs indoor football team that Russo coached at the time.
CRAIG SCHREINER / WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL
His love for football started in his mid-teens after Russo watched Barberton High School defeat Massillon, 26-12, to claim the 1947 Ohio state championship.
After World War II, Mario Russo’s father had moved the family from Italy to Barberton. Mario was 15 and didn’t speak English. It took time to learn the language.
Mario Russo liked to tell this story on himself.
On a basketball court, he hacked opponents. Much to the dismay of his coach, who took the foul prone Russo out of the game to teach him a lesson. Russo was confused.
“I couldn’t speak English very well. I was sitting dejected on the bench,” he said. “One of the guys told me, ‘Go to coach, tell him, ‘Hey, you jackass’ and he’ll let you play.’
“Well, I didn’t know what it meant.
“But I did say it.
“And he kicked me out of the gym.”
A star athlete
Mario Russo got up to speed in a hurry. So much so that he starred in football, wrestling and track as a prep and was inducted into the Barberton Sports Hall of Fame.
His success carried over to the University of Akron, where he lettered four times in football. He was a senior captain and first team guard in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
Russo was even more successful on the mat. At 167 pounds, he didn’t lose a wrestling match over his last three seasons, a reason he’s in the Akron Hall of Fame.
Mario Russo and his son, Mike Russo, prepare for a pasta feast. The elder Russo loved to host pasta parties, his son said.
Courtesy of Paul Russo
Mike Russo packed away some of his dad’s wrestling trophies, along with a trophy from the City of Bologna commending him for twice winning their Super Bowl equivalent.
It reminded him of another keepsake.
Best-selling author John Grisham wrote a novel entitled “Playing for Pizza” centering on a journeyman NFL quarterback, Rick Dockery, looking to keep his career alive in Italy.
The QB winds up with the Parma Panthers, whose coach is an American named Sam Russo. It was a coincidence not lost on Grisham, who sent a signed book to Mario Russo.
Called him a great coach, too.
But was he a great cook?
Mike Russo laughed.
“He liked to think so. But he was a better host than a cook. He loved to have parties. He liked to make pasta on the board. Big board, 4 by 8 foot, specially made.
“Throw the pasta on the board and the people would eat off the board. So, he was a better host than cook, but he would tell you that’s 90 percent of it.
“If you can host people and have a good time and drink a little wine, it doesn’t matter how good you can cook.”
He was a good soul, a really good soul.