Remembering Pat Riepma, ’83

Written by Doug Goodnough

“You either get better or you get worse. You don’t stay the same.”

Those were the words I heard over and over again during my time as a student-athlete at Hillsdale. They were spoken by the person who helped bring me to the Hillsdale campus all those many years ago as a baseball recruit from Toledo.

I didn’t know it at the time, but Pat Riepma, ’83, wasn’t your average baseball coach. In fact, the former Charger football standout had to check out some baseball coaching books from the Mossey Library when then-Athletic Director Jack McAvoy asked him to take over the program a couple of years before my arrival.

And it wasn’t his only job at Hillsdale. He also served as an assistant football coach as well as the sports information director. But if you knew “Coach Rieps,” he didn’t shirk any of his duties. A former star quarterback who led the Chargers to conference titles and postseason glory during his playing days (we are honoring his 1981 and 1982 teams at this year’s Homecoming), he was as competitive as they come.

Anyone who played against the faculty/staff intramural basketball team in the 1980s soon found out just how competitive Riepma could be. In short: he didn’t like to lose. In fact, I don’t know anyone who embraced the “Strength Rejoices in the Challenge” mantra more than him.

During Riepma’s first couple of years as baseball coach, Hillsdale’s program was struggling to get out of the basement of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. But in 1987–my freshman year–it all came together. Melding a team of “pure” baseball players and some baseball/football hybrids, the Chargers made a run at both the GLIAC and NAIA District 23 championships. In fact, we were one base hit away from winning both titles (at the time Hillsdale competed in both NCAA Division II and the NAIA, but competed in the NAIA for the postseason).

Finishing with a 27-19 record, Riepma was named the GLIAC Coach of the Year. And he deserved every bit of it.

He coached baseball one more year before handing over the reins to focus on his football career. Football eventually led him away from Hillsdale, as he was named the head football coach at Northwood University in 1993. He had another challenge there, as Northwood was a struggling program when he took over.

During his 15-year coaching career at Northwood, he was a four-time GLIAC Coach of the Year and was the all-time winningest coach in program history, with a 95-75-2 career record. He also served as athletic director, and his Christian faith and “Go MAD (Make A Difference)” slogan still resonate with the Northwood community.

Sadly, Riepma met his final challenge, battling an insidious form of cancer for many years before passing away in 2015 at age 54.

However, death can never take away his legacy. Since coming back to the ‘Dale, I often pause while passing by his Hall of Fame plaque in the Sports Complex and glance at that wide smile that was one of his hallmarks.

As Homecoming approaches, I ask you to reflect on what Hillsdale College means to you. For me, it’s people like Pat Riepma, who pushed me to be a better person both on the field and off. After all, “staying the same” was not really an option. “Coach Rieps” wouldn’t allow it.

See you on campus October 7-8.


Doug Goodnough, ’90, is Hillsdale’s new director of Alumni Marketing. He’s looking forward to connecting with fellow alumni in new and wonderful ways.

 

 


Published in August 2022