Rocky Rees
Head Coach
West Chester '71
717-477-1758
wmrees@ship.edu
William M. “Rocky” Rees begins his 20th season at the helm of the Red Raider football program and currently ranks tenth among active Division II coaches with 145 career victories. With that total, Rees ranks seventh in the history of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) for career coaching victories.
Rees has a long and distinguished career in football that spans 37 years. The all-time leader for coaching victories in Red Raider football history, Rees has totaled a 19-year record of 109-101-1 (.519) at Shippensburg. Overall, he owns a career mark of 145-116-2 (.555). In 2006, he became the first coach in school history to win 100 games with a 28-21 victory at Slippery Rock.
Rees ranks fourth in tenure among conference head coaches behind Denny Douds of East Stroudsburg (36th season), Danny Hale of Bloomsburg (22nd season) and Dr. George Mihalik of Slippery Rock (22nd season). Additionally, Rees ranks sixth in career games coached among his active Division II brethren.
Shippensburg has had a total of 28 all-conference selections over the past three seasons after garnering a league-high 12 in 2006. From 2004-2007, the Red Raiders boasted 44 All-PSAC Western Division selections, the second-most in the division during that time behind California (Pa.)’s 46.
Last season, Shippensburg finished the 2008 season with an overall record of 4-7 while playing one of the most difficult schedules in the nation. The Red Raiders faced two ranked opponents during the season, No. 13 Shepherd and No. 4 Bloomsburg, and all of Shippensburg’s losses came against teams that finished the season with five or more wins. The combined record of these opponents was 55-25, a tally includes two playoff teams and two other teams that finished with a 9-2 record.
Additionally, the Red Raiders were 11 points away from a 7-4 record after a four-point loss to No. 13 Shepherd, a three-point overtime loss to East Stroudsburg (9-2) and a four-point loss at Mercyhurst (7-4). Six of Shippensburg’s losses over the last two seasons have been by six points or less.
When Shippensburg was in the win column, it got there in convincing fashion. The Raiders won each of their four games last season by at least 17 points and outscored opponents by a 160-31 margin in these victories. Additionally, in the four conference games hosted by Shippensburg at Seth Grove Stadium, the Raiders posted a 3-1 record and outscored opponents by a 124-52 margin.
Shippensburg finished the 2007 season just 14 points short of a 6-5 record after a five-point loss at No. 9 Shepherd, a five-point defeat at home against No. 19 West Chester and a four-point loss at home to Slippery Rock. Four of Shippensburg’s opponents advanced to the 2007 NCAA Division II Football Championship, the most of any team in the Northeast Region.
After a 4-7 record in 2005 that could have been even better if not for three losses to Shepherd, Indiana (Pa.) and West Chester by a combined 15 points, Shippensburg climbed back into the PSAC Western Division championship race in 2006, finishing fourth with an overall mark of 5-6, including 3-3 in conference.
Record-Setting Season
In 2004, Rees guided the Shippensburg to a 10-2 record and a share of the PSAC Western Division championship, the school’s first since 1988. It also marked the most wins in 13 years for the Red Raiders and the program’s first NCAA Division II Football Championship appearance since 1991.
Rees was named as the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II Region Coach of the Year for the second time in his career while earning his third PSAC Western Division Coach of the Year honor, adding to his honors in 1991 and 2001. In 1986, Rees was also named AFCA Region Coach of the Year while at Susquehanna.
The Red Raiders led the PSAC in five statistical categories in 2004 including scoring defense, rushing defense and total defense and were ranked first in the nation in kickoff returns, second in scoring defense, fifth in total defense and ninth in rushing offense.
The team also set a new school record for rushing yards in a season with 3,112 while finishing second in points (392), touchdowns (52) and total offense (4,882).
Shippensburg had a total of 16 All-PSAC Western Division selections, including eight First Team and eight Second Team honorees. Nine of the team’s 11 starters on defense were selected All-conference.
Red Raider Intensity
For nearly two decades under Rees, playing with intensity and a never give up attitude has become a Red Raider trademark.
Shippensburg set numerous team records in 1999, including the marks for total offense (4.951) and yards passing (3,071), en route to an 8-3 record and a second consecutive third-place finish in the Western Division.
Despite injuries and a 5-6 record in 2000, the team displayed that never give up attitude at home against Bloomsburg on September 9 when the team trailed 17-10, scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns to win 24-17. The loss was one of only three suffered by the Huskies that season as they lost to Delta State in the national championship game and finished with a 12-3 record.
Rees was named PSAC Western Division Coach of the Year in 2001 after one of the team’s most productive seasons in team history. Picked to finish sixth in the division, Shippensburg turned what was supposed to be a rebuilding season into an exciting 8-3 record by winning eight of its last nine games.
That performance led to four consecutive winning seasons from 2001-04 in which the Red Raiders had the highest win total for any four-year span in the history of the program with a record of 32-13.
Following an 8-3 record in 2003, the team’s third such record in the last five seasons, Shippensburg set the stage for one of the team’s best seasons in the history of the program in 2004.
From 2002-04, the Red Raiders tied the mark for the best three-year win total in school history with a record of 24-10 which included just the third 10-win season in team history.
Righting the Ship
In 1990, Rees laid the foundation for future success with offensive and defensive innovations while placing a renewed emphasis on conditioning.
The following year, the Red Raiders went 10-3, including a mark of 9-2 in the regular season. In just his second year at Shippensburg, Rees led the team to its second NCAA Division II Football Championship appearance after it had averaged just over five wins the previous eight seasons.
In 1991, Shippensburg posted five victories by overcoming or meeting fourth quarter challenges, highlighted by a 34-33 overtime win on the road at East Stroudsburg in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. Also that season, the Red Raiders overcame a 27-0 deficit at home against Kutztown on September 21 to win 44-35.
Shippensburg stunned Kutztown again three years later on October 29, 1994 when the Red Raiders scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to overcome a 14-3 deficit on the road for an 18-14 victory.
Shippensburg struggled a bit over the next five seasons in which the team won 20 games and finished no better than fourth in the PSAC.
However, in 1997, the team finished second in the Western Division and since that time, the Red Raiders have finished outside the top three in the standings only three times in 10 seasons.
The Champion Crusader
Rees came to Shippensburg from Susquehanna where his teams won three Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) titles in his five seasons as head coach, capturing conference championships in 1986, 1987 and 1989.
After the Crusaders posted a 3-7 record in Rees’ first season in 1985, the team turned in the greatest single-season turnaround in Division III history at the time with an 11-1 record in 1986.
Following an undefeated regular season, Susquehanna won the MAC championship and advanced to the NCAA Division III Football Championship for the first time in program history. Rees was MAC Coach of the Year and AFCA Regional Coach of the Year.
Rees won over 70-percent of his games with the Crusaders, totaling a 36-15-1 record in his five seasons in Selinsgrove.
Rocky’s Road
In the fall of 1971, Rees began what has been a 37-year career as a football coach as a graduate assistant at West Chester. The following year, he joined the coaching staff at Newark High School in Newark, Delaware. After two seasons as an assistant, Rees was named head coach in 1974.
Under Rees, the Yellow Jackets compiled a 28-5-1 record, won two consecutive undefeated Blue Hen Conference Flight A titles and in 1976, had the top-ranked offense and defense in Delaware and won the school’s first state championship. Rees was named conference Coach of the Year twice in 1975 and 1976 and was honored with the selection as the head coach of the gold squad in the 1977 Delaware Blue-Gold game.
From 1977-83, Rees served as the offensive coordinator at Bucknell under head coach Bob Curtis. While there, Rees helped develop Ken Jenkins into one of the finest players in school history as he would set a school record with 1,270 rushing yards in 1980. Jenkins would later play for the Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins.
In 1979, the Bison totaled 2,210 yards rushing, a mark that currently ranks fifth in school history.
Following his seven-year stint at Bucknell, Rees was an assistant coach at Colgate from 1983-84 under Fred Dunlap where he was in charge of the running backs and tight ends. In 1983, Colgate finished with an 8-4 record, advancing to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship first round and ending the year ranked seventh in the nation.
With the Red Raiders, Rees worked with Rich Erenberg and Kenny Gamble, two of the school’s top three career-leading rushers. As a senior in 1983, Erenberg led Division I-AA in rushing, all-purpose and scoring. Gamble led the team in rushing for four-straight seasons from 1984-87 and received the first-ever Walter Payton Award in 1987, presented to the outstanding Division I-AA Player of the Year.
Both Erenberg and Gamble led the nation in rushing, were named ECAC Division I-AA Player of the Year and played four seasons in the NFL. Erenberg played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1984-87 while Gamble was with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1988-91.
Playing Experience
Rees played football at Bayley Ellard Regional High School in Madison, New Jersey where he twice named All-County and was selected as a team captain his senior season.
Following graduation in 1967, the Morristown, New Jersey native attended West Chester University where he earned All-PSAC Eastern Division honors as a running back in 1968 and 1970. He also earned All-PSAC Second Team honors in 1969 when the PSAC selected one All-conference team without separating it into divisions.
Rees led the Golden Rams in both rushing yards and touchdowns as a junior and senior, totaling 1,065 yards rushing in 1970. For his career, he totaled 2,240 yards and 28 touchdowns in four seasons and was selected to the Pennsylvania Dutch Bowl Team while earning Associated Press Little All-America Second Team honors.
After graduating from West Chester in 1971, Rees signed as a free agent with the New England Patriots. He would later earn his master’s degree in 1979 and in 1991, was inducted into the West Chester University Football Hall of Fame.
Beyond the Field
In addition to coaching and educating, Rees continues to be active in community service that has been a mainstay throughout his life.
As a mark of the respect he engenders from his peers in the coaching fraternity, Rees was elected to the AFCA Board of Trustees in 1992 and from 1999-2000, served as AFCA President. In 2000, he was honored with a selection to be an assistant coach at the Hula Bowl All-Star Classic in Maui, Hawaii.
Chairman of the Public Relations Committee for the AFCA from 2000-06, Rees is a member of the organization’s Ethics and All-American Selection Committees while serving as the AFCA’s liaison to the NCAA football rules committee. He is also a member of the NCAA football rules committee.
A prominent contributor to the Association of Pennsylvania State College & University Faculties (APSCUF), Rees is a former member of the State Meet & Discuss Committee while currently serving as the representative for Shippensburg University, chair on the negotiations team and member of the state representative council.
Rees currently lives in Shippensburg and has a daughter named Meghan. His wife Patricia passed away in 1998, but is remembered annually with the Patricia Rees Scholarship.
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