He has the highest winning percentage (.661) of any head coach in the history of Wesleyan Cardinals football program with a tenure longer than two seasons.
A native of Quincy, Massachusetts, Russell graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine in 1951.
He played offensive and defensive tackle for the Bates College football team.
[4] In seven years as the head football coach at Wesleyan, Russell compiled a record of 37–19.
[6] In November 1970, Russell announced his intention to retire from active coaching at the end of the year in order to allow him to devote full time to his job as chairman of the university's physical education department.