IUP Athletic Hall of Fame
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Joe Bellissimo was such a deep threat as an IUP receiver that the school record he set in 1964 for career average gain per catch (18.3 yards) stood for 24 years.
The top target of quarterback Mick Watson, his former Derry Area High School teammate and a 2000 Hall of Fame inductee, Bellissimo started at end for IUP’s PSAC West championship team in 1964. He averaged 19.3 yards per reception that season (good for another school record) and earned first-team PSAC and Pittsburgh Press All-District (small college) honors and a place on the Associated Press All-Pennsylvania second team, which included major college players. A social sciences major, Bellissimo accepted the Norah Zink Athletic Award for academic achievement that year.
He also played a season of baseball at IUP under coach Owen Dougherty Sr., the father of fellow 2018 inductee Owen Dougherty Jr.
Bellissimo later served as head football coach at South River High School in New Jersey, where he tutored future NFL All-Pros Joe Theismann and Drew Pearson. He led the Rams to Group III state championships in 1968 and 1970 before returning to Derry, where he coached for seven seasons (1971-77).
Bellissimo retired in 2007 as superintendent of the Derry Area School District. He and his wife, Lucy, have two children, Brian and Corrie, and reside in Latrobe.
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