Rick Willis (born February 4, 1966) is an American football coach, college athletics administrator, and former baseball and softball coach. He is the head football coach at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, a position he held from 1997 to 2005 and resumed again in 2008. He has also been the athletic director at Wartburg since 2005. Willis served as the head baseball coach at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio from 1991 to 1996, compiling a record of 150–85. He also coached the softball team at Wartburg for one season in 2003, tallying a mark of 38–10.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Wartburg (football) |
| Conference | ARC |
| Record | 185–46 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | February 4, 1966 Camanche, Iowa |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1984–1987 | Cornell (IA) |
| Baseball | |
| 1985–1988 | Cornell (IA) |
| Position(s) | Defensive back (football) Second baseman (baseball) |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1988–1989 | Illinois (GA) |
| 1990–1996 | Wittenberg (DC) |
| 1997–2005 | Wartburg |
| 2008–present | Wartburg |
| Baseball | |
| 1991–1996 | Wittenberg |
| Softball | |
| 2003 | Wartburg |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 2005–present | Wartburg |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 185–46 (football) 150–85 (baseball) 38–10 (softball) |
| Tournaments | Football 10–11 (NCAA D-III playoffs) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Football 11 IIAC/ARC (1999, 2002–2004, 2008, 2010, 2013–2014, 2017–2019) | |
| Awards | |
| Football 5× IIAC Coach of the Year (1999, 2010, 2013–2014, 2017) Baseball NCAC Coach of the Year (1996) | |
Willis was born in Camanche, Iowa. He attended Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, where he played football and baseball, earning all-conference honors in both sports.[1]
Head coaching record
Football
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | D3# | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wartburg Knights (Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) (1997–2005) | |||||||||
| 1997 | Wartburg | 7–3 | 5–3 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1998 | Wartburg | 9–1 | 9–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 1999 | Wartburg | 10–1 | 10–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division III Second Round | ||||
| 2000 | Wartburg | 9–1 | 9–1 | 2nd | |||||
| 2001 | Wartburg | 8–2 | 7–2 | 2nd | |||||
| 2002 | Wartburg | 10–2 | 8–1 | T–1st | L NCAA Division III Second Round | ||||
| 2003 | Wartburg | 11–1 | 8–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division III Second Round | 4 | |||
| 2004 | Wartburg | 8–3 | 6–2 | T–1st | L NCAA Division III First Round | ||||
| 2005 | Wartburg | 7–3 | 6–2 | 3rd | |||||
| Wartburg Knights (Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference / American Rivers Conference) (2008–present) | |||||||||
| 2008 | Wartburg | 10–3 | 7–1 | 1st | L NCAA Division III Quarterfinal | 10 | |||
| 2009 | Wartburg | 6–4 | 5–3 | 3rd | |||||
| 2010 | Wartburg | 10–1 | 8–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division III First Round | 12 | |||
| 2011 | Wartburg | 8–2 | 6–2 | T–2nd | |||||
| 2012 | Wartburg | 6–4 | 4–3 | T–2nd | |||||
| 2013 | Wartburg | 9–3 | 6–1 | 1st | L NCAA Division III Second Round | 15 | |||
| 2014 | Wartburg | 12–1 | 7–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division III Quarterfinal | 4 | |||
| 2015 | Wartburg | 9–1 | 6–1 | 2nd | 24 | ||||
| 2016 | Wartburg | 6–4 | 5–3 | 4th | |||||
| 2017 | Wartburg | 12–1 | 8–0 | 1st | L NCAA Division III Quarterfinal | 10 | |||
| 2018 | Wartburg | 8–3 | 7–1 | 1st | L NCAA Division III First Round | ||||
| 2019 | Wartburg | 10–2 | 7–1 | T–1st | L NCAA Division III Second Round | 14 | |||
| Wartburg: | 185–46 | 144–28 | |||||||
| Total: | 185–46 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
Baseball
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wittenberg Tigers (North Coast Athletic Conference) (1991–1996) | |||||||||
| 1991 | Wittenberg | 25–16 | 16–7 | 4th | |||||
| 1992 | Wittenberg | 25–16 | 14–6 | 2nd | |||||
| 1993 | Wittenberg | 16–18 | 7–9 | T–5th | |||||
| 1994 | Wittenberg | 29–12 | 11–5 | 4th | |||||
| 1995 | Wittenberg | 27–13 | 14–9 | 4th | |||||
| 1996 | Wittenberg | 26–10 | 16–3 | 2nd | |||||
| Wittenberg: | 150–85 | 78–39 | |||||||
| Total: | 150–85 | ||||||||
References
- ^ "Wartburg hires football coach". Iowa City Press-Citizen. Iowa City, Iowa. January 29, 1997. p. 1B. Retrieved January 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com
.
