Dennis Raetz is the winningest football coach in Indiana State history and is one of six Sycamore legends who will be inducted into the 20th Class of the Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday. The event is sponsored by Old National Bank.
Three coaches who guided Sycamore teams to numerous post-season appearances and three athletes who consistently competed on the national level were selected for induction into the 20th Class including Crowder (Wayton), Jack Effner, Aubrey Herring, Fran McCann, Dennis Raetz, and Bob Warn.
The induction ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 13, in the Heritage Ballroom of the Tirey Hall on the campus of Indiana State University. The six inductees will also be recognized during halftime of the Indiana State Homecoming football game on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The Sycamores will take on Western Illinois starting at 3:00 p.m.
Raetz has long been associated with athletics at Indiana State University and is the winningest football coach in Sycamore history recording 94 wins in 18 seasons as the man in charge of the ISU gridiron fortunes.
Raetz led two Sycamore teams into the post-season. The 1984 Indiana State squad was ranked No. 1 in the I-AA poll during the season and won nine-straight games before losing in the I-AA playoffs and finishing 9-4. The 1983 squad finished with an 9-3 record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the I-AA playoffs before being defeated.
He was named the Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year and was selected the Kodak FCS District Coach of the Year in 1984.
Raetz had eight players named First Team All-Americans during his tenure, 65 named All-Missouri Valley Conference, six participate in Collegiate All-Star games, eight named Missouri Valley Conference Players of the year, 41 sign National Football League contracts, and seven assistant coaches move on to the National Football League including two as head coaches.
A native of North Platte, Neb., Raetz attended the University of Nebraska on a football scholarship, but had his playing career cut short by a severe knee injury. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at North Kansas City High School in Missouri (1968-1972) and served as head coach at J.C. Harmon High School (1973-1976) where his teams won two conference titles and posted a 24-13 record.
Raetz joined the University of Missouri staff in 1977 where he was the defensive ends and junior varsity head coach. He followed former Missouri head coach Dick Jamieson to Indiana State and served as defensive coordinator for two seasons (1978-1979). Raetz became ISU's 15th head coach when Jamieson left to become an assistant coach with the St. Louis Cardinals of the National Football League.
The veteran coach resigned after the 1997 season to become the Indiana State Associate Athletic Director for Compliance and Internal Affairs, a capacity he held until the summer of 2007. He has also served as a scout for the Edmonton Eskimos (2003-2005) of the Canadian Football League during which time the franchise won its last two Grey Cup Championships.
Raetz's 1984 football team was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2002. He now joins 24 players and two coaches as an individual with his 2011 Class induction. He is the first full-time coach to be inducted and joins Walter E. "Wally" Marks (1982) and Arthur L. Strum (1982) who coached a variety of sports and served as Director of the Physical Education Department during their years at Indiana State.
- Head Coach of Sycamores for 18 seasons posting 94-105-1 record
- Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year (1984)
- Kodak FCS District Coach of the Year (1984)
- Set Indiana State record for career victories (94)
- Led Sycamores to two playoff appearances
- 1983 team (9-4) advanced to quarterfinals of I-AA playoffs
- 1984 (9-3) reached the No. 1 ranking in I-AA poll
- 1984 team was inducted into ISU Athletics Hall of Fame (2002)
- Led Sycamore football to two of its three nine-win seasons
- During his tenure: eight players named First Team All-American, 65 players named All-MVC,
- six players participated in Collegiate All-Star games, eight players named Conference Players of the Year, 41 players signed NFL contracts, and seven assistant coaches moved on to NFL including two as head coaches,
- Associate Director of Athletics for Compliance and Internal Affairs (1997-2007)
- Inducted into Hall of Fame October 13, 2011
