Indiana University of Pennsylvania Athletics

Of the nearly 1,000 players who have lettered in football at IUP since World War II, one stands head and shoulders above all others in what he has accomplished in the gridiron sport since completing his playing days with the Indians.That is Jim Haslett.
The first and one of only two IUP players to have his uniform number (86) retired, he's also the only one to play in the Blue/Gray all-star game in Montgomery, Alabama. That capped a playing career highlighted by nine All-American honors in three seasons and an ECAC Player of the Year tribute.

Haslett 's career record of 13 fumble recoveries in I975-78 remains the IUP record.  His four-year record of 35 quarterback sacks was bettered by one, but his single-season all-time high of 20 in 1976 is still in place. His career total 412 tackles stands third in the Indian record book.

He also offered an added dimension of punting to his defensive end and linebacker prowess. The extent the Indians depended on this is indicated by his booting a record 13 punts versus Edinboro in '77; a 61 .2 yard average against Lock Haven the following season is a team record.

All this is only a preface to what Haslett has achieved since '79,  when he was drafted by the National Football League Buffalo Bills in the second round ( no other Indian has ever gone that high).

In his first NFL campaign, he was voted the league's Defensive Rookie of the Year, and in 1980 he was named to the All-AFC first team. He was later tabbed for the Bill all­ franchise as the team celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Again, this only prefaced what has come since in a career in which he now finds himself potentially just one notch away from an NFL head coaching position. Effective this past spring, Haslett is defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. At age 40, he is the third youngest to hold such a post in the NFL. Saints' management made their choice after Haslett's 1995 season as linebacker coach with them, which followed two years in the parallel post with the Los Angeles Raiders. His initial coach assignments had been at the University of Buffalo for three years, two as defensive coordinator.

Haslett (who actually graduated from IUP in 1993 after completing the few credits he had been short of a degree in '79) and wife Beth have two daughters, Kelsey and Elizabeth, and a son chase.