By Ken Wheeler, Oregonian
Wednesday, December 18, 1991
McMINNVILLE, Ore. -- Ad Rutschman, who never had a losing season in 24 years as football coach at Linfield College, announced his retirement from coaching Tuesday.
The announcement was made at a news conference held in a basement room of Melrose Hall on the Linfield campus. It was a wonder that Rutschman could find the room. He and his teams had never been near the basement in all of his years with the Wildcats.
``The job has been a very time-consuming job,'' said Rutschman, whose 24-year record was 183-48-3 and included three NAIA Division II football national championships. ``It's a job that requires a high energy level. I think that for a number of years, I have operated on about four hours sleep a night, and I no longer can do that.''
Rutschman, who turned 60 last Oct. 31, will remain at Linfield as athletic director and as a professor in the physical education department.
The search for a new coach will begin immediately, Rutschman said, with Kenneth Goodrich, vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty, heading the search committee. Rutschman said he would be a member of the committee.
Rutschman indicated that the health of his wife, Joan, played a part in his decision to retire from coaching at this time.
``Basically,'' he said, ``Joan and I have never had a vacation in the 24 years that we have been here. I think it's time to take a few days here and there to play.
``Joan has been fighting a respiratory infection for about 14 months, and it has been a real struggle. She has been an unbelievable help to me, and maybe it's time for me to help her.''
One of the most difficult things, Rutschman said, ``was in finding an easy place to get off this roller coaster.''
It might not have been easy, but he found a spot to get off. At the top, obviously.
Linfield finished the past season with an 8-3 record and reached the quarterfinals of the national playoffs before losing to archrival Pacific Lutheran, which on Saturday will play Georgetown College of Georgetown, Ky., for the national championship.
And while Linfield never had a losing season under Rutschman, the Wildcats won or shared 15 league championships and swept to seven unbeaten regular seasons.
Rutschman's coaching success is spelled out graphically on a sign posted on the red-brick fortress at the southern end of the campus that the Wildcats call home.
Maxwell Field
Home of the Linfield Wildcats
NAIA II National Champions
1982, 1984, 1986
Rutschman, a graduate of Hillsboro High School, was a three-sport standout and little All-American running back before his graduation from Linfield in 1954.
He began his coaching career at Hillsboro High School in 1954, where his teams won a state championship in football in 1966 and in baseball in 1962, 1966 and 1968. In 1968, he became head coach in baseball and football at Linfield.
As football coach, he succeeded his college mentor, Paul Durham, who had posted a 122-51-10 record in 20 years before moving to the University of Hawaii as athletic director.
``Linfield will find a successor. What a challenge he will have, but what an example to follow,'' Durham said from his home in Hawaii. ``Adolf Rutschman is something special.''
Rutschman's decision came as a surprise. He had met with his staff earlier and told his assistants of his decision. Then, before the news conference Tuesday, he had an emotional meeting with members of his last football team during which he told of his plans.
``I'm going to miss the relationship I've had with our coaching staff,'' Rutschman said, ``and miss the game planning, the strategy involved in a game. But overall, it's been a wonderful 24 years.
``I'm going to miss the relationships with the players. I feel so strongly that the skills of success are basically the human skills, relationships that people have with one another . . . work ethic . . . handling adversity, things like that.
``I don't think there is any place in the educational system where those things can be taught better than in athletics, especially in team sports. That has been an enjoyable thing.''
Of all of the years, all of the games, all of the championships, Rutschman said, one moment seemed to stand above all of the rest.
``I suppose the thing that sticks out the most,'' he said, ``was that first national championship, but that was in baseball.''
Besides the three national football titles the Wildcats won under Rutschman, the school's baseball team won or shared the conference title seven times in his 13 years as coach and won the national crown in 1971. Rutschman continued his dual roles as head baseball and football coach until 1983, when he gave up the baseball job.
And now the football job, too, will be passed on, but more than a coaching change is involved. Rutschman's announcement marked the end of an era. His record stamped it as such.
Linfield’s Rutchman plans retirement
Oregonian Sports Friday, May 26, 1995
McMINNVILLE, Ore. -- Ad Rutschman, whose accomplishments with Linfield athletics have spanned nearly a half century, will step down as the college's athletic director next year.
The 63-year-old Rutschman, who announced Thursday that he would retire on June 30, 1996, said he had no definite plans but indicated that he planned to remain active in sports-related fields such as consulting and participating in clinics.
Rutschman first starred as a freshman athlete at the McMinnville school in 1951. He has been associated with the school ever since with the exception of 14 years as football and baseball coach at Hillsboro High School, where his teams won state championships in both sports.
``This does not signal an end of an era,'' Linfield president Vivian A. Bull said, ``but a time of renewed commitment by Linfield to uphold the values exemplified by Ad Rutschman in his life as an athlete, coach, athletic director and teacher.''
During four years as a student-athlete at Linfield, Rutschman earned 12 letters in football, baseball and basketball. In his senior year, he was named a first-team Little all-American in football and was drafted by the Detroit Lions. He chose not to try out with the NFL team, choosing instead to start his coaching career at Hillsboro.
Rutschman returned to Linfield in 1968, succeeding Paul Durham as football coach. He remained as football coach for 24 years before choosing to step down and concentrate on his duties as a teacher and athletic director.
Rutschman also served as the school's baseball coach for 13 years from 1971 to 1983, and his first team won the national NAIA championship.
Winning championships became routine. In his 24 years as football coach at Linfield, Rutschman never had a losing team, and his 1982, 1984 and 1986 teams won the NAIA Division II national championship.
``Winning probably kept me in coaching,'' Rutschman said, ``but the most satisfying things have been from the kids who graduated and came back or wrote to say how important athletics was to what they are now doing. This gave me an opportunity to have an impact in helping develop young people and that will always be the most gratifying aspect of my career.''
During his playing career as a running back at Linfield, Rutschman set school records that still stand, gaining 3,761 on 672 carries. As a senior, he averaged 137.4 rushing yards per game.
But it was after his return to the school as a coach that he really took on a load, serving as baseball coach, football coach, classroom teacher and athletic director simultaneously for a period of 10 years.
``I have always believed that hard work is important and if people are to achieve any degree of success they must work hard,'' Rutschman said. ``I also believe it is essential to base your decisions on principle, even when it is not popular. I believe that if you work hard and do what is right, eventually good things will happen.''
Rutschman's 24-year football coaching record at Linfield was 183-48-3, and the Wildcats won or shared the league title 15 times. In 13 years as baseball coach, his teams were 244-198-2 and won or shared seven league championships.
He was elected to the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1989, to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1993, and has five times been honored as the top coach in the state by being named recipient of the Slats Gill Man of the Year Award at The Oregonian Banquet of Champions.
A new athletic facility scheduled for completion this summer will be named the Rutschman Field House in honor of Rutschman and his wife, Joan, who has worked at Linfield with her husband as athletic secretary, ticket manager and booster club coordinator.
Linfield’s athletic director Rutschman to retire next year
Oregonian Friday, May 26, 1995
On the Sidelines Colleges
Ad Rutschman, 63, who coached Linfield College to three NAIA Division II national football titles in the 1980s, announced Thursday that he will step down as the athletic director of the McMinnville school next year.
Rutschman, who coached the football team from 1968 to 1992, said he will retire on June 30, 1996. Though he has no definite plans, he indicated that he planned to remain active in sports-related fields such as consulting and participating in clinics.
Rutschman first starred as a freshman athlete at Linfield in 1951 and has been associated with the school ever since except for 14 years as football and baseball coach at Hillsboro High School.
