Tony Dorsett, who would later star at Pitt and with the Dallas Cowboys, remembers the summer of 1971, when he was about to enter his junior year at Hopewell High School and, to that point, had been known for his merit as a defensive back.

Hopewell Coach Richard "Butch" Ross decided that Mr. Dorsett, undersized yet shifty, should carry the football, not track down opponents. It was on that Beaver County practice field that Mr. Dorsett's career as a running back was born, and football history was changed, because of Mr. Ross' keen eye.

Head football coach at Hopewell from 1968 to 1977 and a 1993 inductee to the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame, Mr. Ross died Saturday at Allegheny General Hospital after a long illness. He was 70.

Mr. Ross also taught social studies and driver's education for 42 years at Hopewell but was best remembered as head of the football program, where he led the Vikings to 9-1 records in Mr. Dorsett's junior and senior seasons as Mr. Dorsett starred, naturally, at running back.

"I was just this little bitty kid out there as a sophomore who was making tackles and playing defensive back," Mr. Dorsett said. "He was the one who moved me to offense. I credit Coach Ross with having the foresight to make me a running back and then, from there . . . the rest is history."

Mr. Dorsett went on to be the only player in football history with the following five career achievements: a national college championship, a Heisman Trophy, a place in the College Football Hall of Fame, a Super Bowl championship and enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Mr. Dorsett is far from the only young man Mr. Ross affected through football. He also was an assistant coach at Geneva College and Center High School and a champion of Beaver County football as a whole.

For the past six years in the Aliquippa football program and the past five years in the Hopewell program, the Richard "Butch" Ross Scholar-Athlete Award, along with scholarship money, has been presented to the player on each team who excels on the field and in academic endeavors and performs exemplary community service.

"I remember the life's lessons he taught me as much as anything," said Dan Rains, a Hopewell player under Mr. Ross who played linebacker at the University of Cincinnati and with the Chicago Bears.

"I remember recruiters coming in from schools I knew I wasn't going to go to and Coach Ross said to me before they got there, 'Dan, these men have traveled a long way to get here and have put the time into coming to meet with you. You be dignified and a gentleman and sit down and treat them with respect and hear what they have to say.'

"That stuck with me."

Mr. Ross is survived by his wife of 44 years, Shirley Benaquisto Ross; a son, Mark of Aliquippa; a daughter, Kelly McCormack of Keller, Texas; and three grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 5 to 9 p.m. today and 2 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. tomorrow at Anthony Mastrofrancesco Funeral Home, 21st and McMinn streets, Aliquippa.

Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday in St. Titus Church, Aliquippa, with entombment to follow at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery, Hopewell.