A legendary coach who thrived before segregation and after schools were integrated. His impact has been immense, not just during the high school season, but during the summer track season with the Durham Striders, as well. He began coaching at Hillside in 1955 before integration, and his teams won 10 state titles in the North Carolina High School Athletic Conference for black schools (1955, '56, '57, '58, '59, '60, '61, '62, '63 and '66). After segregation ended, his Hillside boys’ teams won 4 North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) state outdoor track championships (1984, '87, '93, '94), and 3 indoor state track titles (1987, '88, '97), with his last coming when he was 88 years old (at the time, the oldest coach in the country to win a state title). 

He is a member of the NFHS' National High School Sports Hall of Fame, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, the NCSHAA Hall of Fame, the North Carolina High School Athletic Directors Association Hall of Fame, the St. Augustine's University Sports Hall of Fame, and the Punchard/Andover (Massachusettes) High School Hall of Fame. The stadium at Hillside High (Russell Blunt Memorial Stadium) is named in his honor, and there is a track and field meet in Durham named in his honor, the Russell E. Blunt East Coast Invitational. He was also honored by the NCHSAA as one of the “100 to Remember” coaches during the NCHSAA's centennial celebration.