Release courtesy of the Northwood University Athletic Media Relations Department
MIDLAND, MICH. – Northwood University athletic director and former football coach Pat Riepma has been inducted into the Midland County Sports Hall of Fame.
Riepma was inducted in a ceremony which took place May 12 at Dow Diamond.
"I was very surprised and very thankful," Riepma told the Midland Daily News. “I had the good fortune to be the head coach, but the reason I'm being named to the Hall of Fame is because of my staff, the great assistant coaches I had; the support of our administration, which gave me an opportunity to install a first-class program; and our players. We've had some great players.”
Riepma spent 15 years (1993-2007) as the head football coach at Northwood University turning the Timberwolves into one of the elite programs in the nation. A four-time GLIAC Coach of the Year, Riepma is the all-time winningest coach in Northwood history, having registered a 90-68-2 career record. Riepma passed Hall of Fame coach Jack Finn’s record of 87 career wins during the 2007 campaign. Riepma won three GLIAC Championships (1999, 2000, and 2004) and reached the NCAA Division II Playoffs four times (2000, 2004-06). After leading the Timberwolves to the GLIAC Championship and NCAA Playoffs in the 2000 season, Riepma was named AFCA Regional Coach of the Year. His teams won a school record 10 games during each of the 2000, 2004, and 2005 seasons. With the innovative “Woodbone” offense, Northwood was consistently among the NCAA Division II leaders in both rushing and scoring.
Following the 2000 season Riepma assumed the duties as Northwood’s Director of Athletics and remained director after stepping down as head football coach in 2007. In this role he was a leader, visionary and fund-raiser. Besides guiding the Timberwolves athletics programs to unprecedented success on the field, Riepma was the driving force in bringing major improvements to the athletic facilities on campus. These improvements include an indoor practice facility and academic center, renovations to the Bennett Sports Center, a new weight room, new training room and new tennis courts. Riepma was also active in the NCAA as a member of the NCAA Football Rules Committee and the NCAA Football Regional Ranking Committee.