Post by herky on Mar 28, 2006 9:36:38 GMT -6
Coaching legend Schipper dies
Recruiting was always pretty easy for Ron Schipper. He had the top small-college football program in Iowa to sell. He had one of the top small-college football programs in the nation to market.
And if that wasn’t enough, he had ‘‘assistant coaches’’ all over the state helping him sway kids toward Central College.
‘‘It seemed like every school in the state had a Central grad,’’ former Central player Don Knock said Monday. ‘‘If it wasn’t the football coach, it was the basketball coach, or the athletic director, or the principal.’’
It was one big family. A family that’s hurting after the death of the legendary former football coach. Schipper died suddenly Sunday evening near his home in Holland, Mich., the school announced Monday. He was 77.
Funeral services are Friday in Michigan, though Central expects to hold a memorial service in his honor on campus sometime this week.
‘‘We’ve lost one of our living legends,’’ Central President David Roe said. ‘‘I’m still in a state of shock. Coach Schipper was such an incredible part of the Central tradition. We’ve lost a giant.’’
‘‘It’s a sad day, no question,’’ said Knock, Iowa State’s director of football operations and a former head coach at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School. ‘‘I don’t know (that) if I would have gone to another school, I would have made it. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. But after being around him, it didn’t take long for me to figure out I wanted to coach.’’
Schipper compiled a remarkable 287-67-3 record at Central from 1961 to 1996, posting 36 consecutive winning seasons and making three trips to the NCAA Division III championship game, winning it in 1974. He ranks second among DIII coaches in career victories. But it was the lives and coaches he influenced that will be his biggest lasting legacy, his former players said.
‘‘There were three things he always taught,’’ said longtime Sigourney-Keota football coach Bob Howard, a 1975 Central graduate. ‘‘It was about spirituality, family and academics, in that order. Then it was athletics. Football was always a big deal, but it wasn’t the main thing.’’
Knock and Howard said they both had talked to Schipper recently, Howard trying to cement plans for an annual fishing trip to Canada. Knock played on Central’s national championship team in ’74, and his wife, Cindy, was roommates with Schipper’s daughter at Central.
Unlike most every football coach, Knock said he never heard Schipper swear. He substituted words or phrases like ‘‘Christopher Columbus’’ when he was upset at someone or something. ‘‘He had an unbelievable passion for what he believed in, for college football,’’ Knock said. ‘‘That’s the thing that impressed me most about him, he honestly believed in what he said. He didn’t say one thing and live another way."
Recruiting was always pretty easy for Ron Schipper. He had the top small-college football program in Iowa to sell. He had one of the top small-college football programs in the nation to market.
And if that wasn’t enough, he had ‘‘assistant coaches’’ all over the state helping him sway kids toward Central College.
‘‘It seemed like every school in the state had a Central grad,’’ former Central player Don Knock said Monday. ‘‘If it wasn’t the football coach, it was the basketball coach, or the athletic director, or the principal.’’
It was one big family. A family that’s hurting after the death of the legendary former football coach. Schipper died suddenly Sunday evening near his home in Holland, Mich., the school announced Monday. He was 77.
Funeral services are Friday in Michigan, though Central expects to hold a memorial service in his honor on campus sometime this week.
‘‘We’ve lost one of our living legends,’’ Central President David Roe said. ‘‘I’m still in a state of shock. Coach Schipper was such an incredible part of the Central tradition. We’ve lost a giant.’’
‘‘It’s a sad day, no question,’’ said Knock, Iowa State’s director of football operations and a former head coach at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School. ‘‘I don’t know (that) if I would have gone to another school, I would have made it. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. But after being around him, it didn’t take long for me to figure out I wanted to coach.’’
Schipper compiled a remarkable 287-67-3 record at Central from 1961 to 1996, posting 36 consecutive winning seasons and making three trips to the NCAA Division III championship game, winning it in 1974. He ranks second among DIII coaches in career victories. But it was the lives and coaches he influenced that will be his biggest lasting legacy, his former players said.
‘‘There were three things he always taught,’’ said longtime Sigourney-Keota football coach Bob Howard, a 1975 Central graduate. ‘‘It was about spirituality, family and academics, in that order. Then it was athletics. Football was always a big deal, but it wasn’t the main thing.’’
Knock and Howard said they both had talked to Schipper recently, Howard trying to cement plans for an annual fishing trip to Canada. Knock played on Central’s national championship team in ’74, and his wife, Cindy, was roommates with Schipper’s daughter at Central.
Unlike most every football coach, Knock said he never heard Schipper swear. He substituted words or phrases like ‘‘Christopher Columbus’’ when he was upset at someone or something. ‘‘He had an unbelievable passion for what he believed in, for college football,’’ Knock said. ‘‘That’s the thing that impressed me most about him, he honestly believed in what he said. He didn’t say one thing and live another way."
