Patriot League Honors Biddle

Names Coach of the Year Award After Colgate’s Legendary Gridiron Master

Former Colgate head coach Dick Biddle was recognized this week with the naming of the Patriot League’s Football Coach of the Year Award in his honor.

Biddle coached the Raiders from 1996 to 2013, departing as the winningest head coach in Colgate and Patriot League history. Over 18 seasons, Biddle fashioned a mark of 137-73, including an 81-27 record in conference.

That .750 winning percentage against Patriot League foes led to seven conference championships, seven trips to the NCAA playoffs and the best record for any league coach with at least 40 games.

“This is a tremendous honor,” said Biddle from his home in Virginia. “I loved every minute of my Colgate coaching career, but I particularly enjoyed the competition week in and week out inside the Patriot League.

“The games were always hard-fought and competitive, and they featured some of the best student-athletes and coaches you could find in collegiate athletics. It was an honor to be associated with every school, every coach and every football player in the Patriot League, and it certainly is an honor to have this award carry my name going forward.”

One of Five with Patriot Naming Honors

Biddle joins former Raiders tennis head coach Joe Abrahamson (men’s tennis MVP) among the five now recognized with a Patriot League award in their name: Bucknell’s Gene Depew (baseball), Lafayette’s Bill Lawson (men’s lacrosse) and Fordham’s John “Pat” Rooney (women’s tennis MVP).

“This honor is a fitting tribute to a man who was a great ambassador not only for Colgate University and the Patriot League, but also the college football community,” Patriot League Commissioner Jennifer Heppel said. “Coach Biddle earned a record five Patriot League Football Coach of the Year Awards, led Colgate to the 2003 NCAA championship game and possesses the values, qualities, and traits of an outstanding coach both on and off of the field.”

Current Raiders head coach Dan Hunt has known and admired Biddle for more than two decades, having coached under the legend for 18 seasons before succeeded him in 2014.

“This is the perfect tribute to Coach Biddle,” Hunt said. “He is what the Patriot League is all about: a coach’s coach who values winning — and winning the right way. He has won more games than anyone who has ever done it at Colgate and in the Patriot League.

“I am proud of the PL for this move. It is 100 percent the right thing to do for a great man who gave so much to this league.”

‘Incredibly Successful Coach and Mentor’

And Dr. Nicki W. Moore took over the Colgate Vice President and Director of Athletics reins this summer, well after Biddle’s departure, but says she rarely goes a day or two without the head coach’s name coming up in conversation.

“We are grateful to our Patriot League colleagues who have joined with us to honor an incredibly successful coach and mentor to generations of Colgate Football student-athletes and coaches who have followed him,” Moore said. “With the naming of this award for Coach Dick Biddle, we collectively affirm the importance of strong academic performance for our scholar-athletes and acknowledge that winning on the field also matters.

“Coach Biddle helped to elevate Patriot League Football while building a legacy of pursuing excellence at Colgate, and we are so pleased to honor him in this way.”

Biddle also is on the ballot this year for potential induction to the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. Theannouncement of the 2019 class takes place Jan. 7 in Santa Clara, California, site of the College Football Playoff National Championship later that day at Levi’s Stadium.

Biddle by the Numbers

5 – Patriot League Coach of the Year honors.

7 – Patriot League Championships and NCAA Playoff appearances, including the 2003 NCAA DI-AA Championship Game.

81 – Most Patriot League wins.

108 – Most Patriot League games coached.

.750 – His winning percentage in Patriot League play, making him the winningest coach in League history with 40 or more games.

137 – Most overall wins during his Patriot League coaching career.

By martha

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