By Joe Vanden Acker
Lawrence Today magazine, Spring 2005
The winter saw some major changes within Lawrence’s Department of Athletics,
of which perhaps the biggest was the hiring of Chris
Howard (pictured) as
the new Vikings football coach. Lawrence announced in January it would be
hiring
a full-time
director of athletics, and the department also underwent some restructuring,
with three coaches taking on new challenges.
Howard, an Appleton native who had served as the defensive coordinator and
defensive secondary coach at St. Norbert College for the past three seasons,
took over just before Christmas. He replaced
Dave Brown, who stepped down in November after six seasons.
“I’m extremely excited about this opportunity,” Howard says. “I’ve
been waiting for a coaching position such as this for my entire career.
I feel very fortunate to be at a place like Lawrence. With the university
in
my hometown and my comfort level coaching in the Midwest Conference, I
believe this is an ideal fit.”
Howard helped the Green Knights win three conference championships and
post the first NCAA Division III playoff victory in school history. St.
Norbert
compiled an impressive 29-4 record over the past three seasons, and the
Green Knights ranked first in total defense in the Midwest Conference each
of the
past two years.
Howard has an impressive coaching background that ranges from the prep
level to NCAA Division I-A. Before going to St. Norbert, he coached at
Southern
Utah University from 1996-2002 and served as both offensive and defensive
coordinator. He also was a graduate assistant football coach at both
Southern Illinois University and the University of Utah.
Howard played his prep football for legendary coach Paul Engen at Appleton
West High School.
Athletics director sought
Dean of the Faculty Kathleen Murray announced in early January that the
college would be hiring a full-time director of athletics. Traditionally,
Lawrence’s
director of athletics has also served as the head coach of a sport.
The new athletics director will be a full-time administrator with no
coaching duties.
Lawrence becomes the sixth school in the Midwest Conference to adopt
this model — St. Norbert, Beloit, Knox, Grinnell, and Illinois
Colleges all have a full-time administrator heading their athletics
department.
“Athletics at Lawrence are an integral component of a student’s total
education,” Murray says. “Over the course of the past several
years, it has become apparent that we need a full-time administrator,
an individual who is not tied to any coaching responsibilities, to
provide strong leadership for this department with which more than
30 percent
of
our students
are involved.”
Coaching changes
In addition, current Director of Athletics Kim Tatro has announced
a restructuring of some coaching positions.
Moira Ruhly, head
women’s soccer coach, now leads the men’s and
women’s cross country teams and men’s and women’s
track and field teams. Blake
Johnson, who coaches the men’s soccer squad,
now also coaches the women’s soccer team and has been given the
title director of soccer programs. Matt Kehrein, ’98, who was
serving as assistant football coach and head track and field coach,
has relinquished
his
track coaching duties to concentrate solely on football.