Leo Fanning played defensive back on the Bears football team from 1966-69. He was co-captain of the 1969 team. He was also co-recipient of the BSC Sports Achievement Award and nominated to the "Outstanding Collegiate Athletes of America" in 1969-70. Following his graduation from Bridgewater , Leo went on to pursue a collegiate coaching career in football. He was assistant coach at Bridgewater State College (1971-73), UMass-Amherst (1973-74), Tufts University (1974-78), Harvard (1978-93), and American International College (1994) as well as the assistant head coach at Holy Cross (1996 - 2003), Norwich University (2004 -2013) and Bentley University  (2013- 2018). He retired in 2018 after 47 years in college coaching.

Leo was honored with the following recognitions and awards:

• 1995 Assistant Coach of the Year presented by the Gridiron Club of Boston
• 2015 John Baronian Award for contributions to college football presented by the Gridiron Club of Boston
• 2018 George C. Carens Award for contributions to New England Football presented by The New England Football Writers Association
• 2020 Honored Member to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) in recognition of devotion, dedication and distinguished service to the game of football.

 Leo and his wife, Patricia, live in Marlborough. They have two children and five grandchildren.