Ad Rutschman coached about
300 players from Hawaii on his Linfield football teams, 1968-1991.
After he retired as Linfield
head football coach following the 1991 season, but continued as athletic
director until the summer of 1996, he knows other Linfield football players
from Hawaii, too.
Suffice to say, Coach
Rutschman likes the aloha.
In July 2019, the coach,
Linfield President Miles Davis and others traveled to Oahu for a couple of days
on the island. During that time, he was guest of honor at a Linfield reception
on a Saturday in Honolulu. The next day "younger" Linfield
grads/former Wildcat football players from Hawaii held an event for him in
Kaneohe.
(Another event held in
Honolulu was a reception for students who will start their freshman years at
Linfield in fall 2019 and their parents and current Linfield students and their
parents.)
Linfield President Davis
likes the aloha, too. He lived in Hawaii when stationed there during his
U.S. Navy service.
Before the July 2019 trip,
Coach Rutschman's previous time in Hawaii was in the 1990s, likely either after
he retired as football coach or athletic director.
Thanks to Linfielders Debbie
Harmon Ferry and John Sadowski here are a few (but not all) photos they took
from the Rutschman-related events.
Postscript -- John noted at the Kaneohe event that John was the attendee who played layed Linfield Wildcat football for both Coach Paul Durham (1966-67), and Coach Ad Rutschman (1968-69).
Of course, the late Coach Durham has Hawaii connections. A Linfield grad, he became football coach, co-men's basketball coach, golf coach and athletic director at Linfield. After 20 years at Linfield, he moved to Honolulu and became athletic director of the University of Hawaii.
Postscript -- John noted at the Kaneohe event that John was the attendee who played layed Linfield Wildcat football for both Coach Paul Durham (1966-67), and Coach Ad Rutschman (1968-69).
Of course, the late Coach Durham has Hawaii connections. A Linfield grad, he became football coach, co-men's basketball coach, golf coach and athletic director at Linfield. After 20 years at Linfield, he moved to Honolulu and became athletic director of the University of Hawaii.
:::::
This story (link below) about
how the Hawaii-Linfield football
pipeline started will be of interest to you.
