Pitt national champion John Falvo gets call from Pine-Richland hall of fame

By: Jerin Steele
Saturday, August 17, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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The announcement for the 2024 Pine-Richland Sports Hall of Fame class was made a few weeks earlier, but John Falvo had no idea he was included.

That was until he received a phone call from a family member.

“Nobody knew where I was or my phone number, so they were asking around and my brother-in-law saw it and called me,” Falvo said. “He told me I was in the hall of fame.”

Falvo was pretty hard to track down on the football field as well.

A 1976 Richland graduate, Falvo was a standout running back and the school’s first PIAA track champion. He went on to be a member of Pitt football’s 1976 national championship team.

Along with Jamel (Nicholas) Debri, Scott Heim, Dale Mollenhauer, Roger Price and the 2005 Pine-Richland girls volleyball team, Falvo will be inducted at a banquet in the high school cafeteria at 6 p.m. Oct. 5.

“I loved playing the game and was fortunate to take it to the next level and play at Pitt,” Falvo said. “I loved playing at Richland. There was nothing like it. I’m appreciative of the committee for selecting me. I was lucky enough to have a great coach and teammates that were unselfish and allowed me to do what I did.”

Falvo credited his older brother Tony, who was an offensive lineman at Florida State, with helping him become an elite athlete.

“My brother was one of the greats too,” Falvo said. “We’d be in the backyard and every day he’d say, ‘Try to get around me,’ and for the longest time, I couldn’t. Then all of a sudden I was able to start doing that.”

Falvo got some playing time his sophomore and junior years at Richland and made it his goal to be in the best shape possible prior to his senior year by using intense workouts in the summer.

He also wrestled for two years at Richland, but decided to focus fully on football going into his final season.

“My senior year I decided I was going to go all out,” Falvo said. “I ran about 5,000 40-yard dashes during the summer. I wanted to get quicker. I ended up being a 220-pound back that ran the 40 in 4.5 (second) speed.”

From there, the 100, 200 and 300-plus yard games on the ground became a regular occurrence and the accolades followed.

Falvo became an all-WPIAL and all-state running back.

He added to his final year of high school by winning the state shot put title, putting himself in the record books as the first individual from Richland to win a PIAA gold medal.

“It blew my mind and everyone’s mind, because my last throw went almost 60 feet,” Falvo said. “I never saw the throw, because I kept my head down, but when I looked up, my coaches were jumping up and down. I saw where it landed and couldn’t believe it. I was averaging around 57 feet. It was pretty cool.”

With all the achievements from his senior year, there was plenty of interest from most major colleges. Falvo recalled getting a phone call from Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, but ultimately chose to play for Johnny Majors at Pitt.

It turned out to be a great decision as a few months after high school he was a national champion.

“I got to play with Tony Dorsett and the gang,” Falvo said. “We won the national championship. Not many people can say that, so I have to say that’s probably the best thing that happened to me in sports.”

Unfortunately, injuries cut Favlo’s football career short. The first injury came at the Big 33 Classic prior to going to Pitt.

“We were doing a 40-yard dash and Matt Suhey accidentally stepped on my Achilles and it tore it,” Falvo said. “I never got my 4.5 speed back. I went back to Pitt my sophomore year when Jackie Sherrill was there and all of the sudden at practice, I had a pulled groin and a torn hamstring and I realized I wasn’t going to be what I was and that wasn’t good enough for me. I didn’t want to hurt Pitt, because they could get someone else, so I left. Two years later, I enlisted in the United States Navy.”

Falvo was in the Navy for six years and after leaving, he worked in computer software until retirement.

He and his wife have three children and he currently resides in Slippery Rock.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Pine-Richland