COW mourns passing of former coach Schmitz

Mike Schmitz, who led The College of Wooster football team to a 78-54 record, a berth in the 2004 NCAA Division III Championship and the 2004 North Coast Athletic Conference title, died Sunday, June 1. He was 72.

Schmitz coached at Wooster for 18 seasons, starting as the offensive coordinator. He was elevated to head coach in 2000 and led the program during some of its most successful seasons. Wooster’s 2004 team went 11-1 and won the NCAC title for the second time. That year the program made its first appearance in the NCAA Div. III Championship, where it beat Aurora University 41-34 before falling to Carthage College 14-7.

Wooster won at least seven games five times under Schmitz and finished in the top three within the NCAC five times. During Schmitz’s head coaching tenure, Seth Duerr and Tony Sutton were finalists for the Gagliardi Trophy, eight players earned All-America honors, and Rick Drushal was selected for the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. Standout running back Tony Sutton rushed for a still-standing NCAA Div. III career record of 187.1 yards per game, and his 16 points per game average is still the all-time Div. III career record.

Top conference honors under Schmitz included Sutton’s selection as a two-time Mike Gregory NCAC Offensive Player of the Year. On the defensive side, Duerr and Joe Kearney were selected as Hank Critchfield NCAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2000 and 2004, respectively. Schmitz coached three NCAC Newcomers of the Year and was voted by his peers as the NCAC Coach of the Year in 2004 and 2008.

Before coming to the college, Schmitz was a standout high school coach in the region. He went on to serve as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Ohio Northern University.

Schmitz is survived by his wife Peggy, his children Joie and Stephen, and grandchildren Evan and Callan.