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Shippensburg University head football coach William M. “Rocky” Rees today announced his retirement effective at the end of this academic year. A nationwide search for his successor is underway.
“After 40 years of coaching at five institutions, including 21 years at Shippensburg University and its football program, I will be stepping down and returning the reins of the football team back to the university and their next chosen leader,” Rees said. “I have been involved with the sport since 1963 as a player and as a coach. It has been seven-day weeks from August through April for the last four decades of my life. I think it is time for someone else to pick up the ball and advance it.”
Rees is the all-time leader for coaching victories in Red Raider football history with a record of 118-105-1. Overall, his career mark is 154-120-2, including five years as head coach at Susquehanna University.
“Coach Rees has achieved an outstanding record on the field, but his most important wins are reflected in the more than 1,000 student athletes he worked with, mentored and helped become outstanding men,” said President Bill Ruud. “Through his dedication and commitment to his players, he helped them become leaders throughout our nation. His impact on the football program, and the university, will be long-remembered and is very much appreciated. Everyone wishes Rocky the best as he begins a new phase of his life which, I'm sure, will include more motorcycling around the country.”
Rees ranks fourth in tenure among head coaches in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and seventh in coaching victories. He also ranks sixth in career games coached among his active Division II peers.
“Rocky continues to be a tremendous asset to our institution and specifically for our department and football program,” said
Jeff Michaels, acting director of athletics. “He has been a true professional and someone with whom I genuinely appreciate working. At a time like this, the emphasis will likely center upon his win total and possibly on all of our success a year ago. What I think the focus should be is the student-athletes' lives that he has touched and influenced during his coaching career. There are countless individuals who have gained life-changing experiences because of working with Rocky.”
He joined Shippensburg in 1990 and laid the foundation for success with offensive and defensive innovations. In 1991, the Red Raiders went 10-3 and made their second NCAA Division II Football Championship appearance after it averaged just more than five wins during the previous eight seasons.
“When Coach Rees arrived, I was not on his first team for academic reasons, but I did make his first meeting,” said Rob Davis '92, the current director of player development for the Green Bay Packers and the first player in SU history to have his number retired in any sport. “I knew from that day forward that he would lead the men of Ship football, myself included, in a very impactful way.”
“The thing that I am most proud of Coach Rees for is graduating players. Even though Coach Rees has had a handful of players enter the professional ranks out of his program, Shippensburg is a place where men go to play good football and graduate, men who may not necessarily expect or aspire to go pro. I wish Coach Rees all the best this year and hope that he has and continues to find satisfaction in knowing what an impact he has made on the lives of the Ship football players he has touched.”
In 2009, Rees guided the Red Raiders to the program's first divisional title since 2004 and SU's first outright conference championship since 1981. The campaign marked the fourth time in his career that he was named a PSAC Coach of the Year and the third time he received an AFCA Regional Coach of the Year award.
Last year's offensive success was similar to the 1999 season during which the team set numerous records while finishing 8-3. Records were set for total offense (4,951) and yards passing (3,071) as the potent tandem of quarterback Chris Gicking (2,832 passing yards) and receiver Jamie Ware (1,334 receiving yards) helped SU average 38.2 points through the first 10 games of the season.
From 2001-04, the Red Raiders posted the highest win total for any four-year span in the history of the program with a record of 32-13. The culmination of that success was in 2004, when Rees led Shippensburg to a 10-2 record and a share of the PSAC Western Division championship for the first time since 1988.
That team was ranked first in the nation in kickoff returns, second in scoring defense, fifth in total defense and ninth in rushing offense. It also set a new school record for rushing yards in a season (3,112) while finishing second in points (392), touchdowns (52) and total offense (4,882). SU had 16 All-PSAC Western Division selections in 2004, including nine of the team's 11 starters on defense.
Rees has long been a well-respected member of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), including a term as the organization's president from 1999 to 2000. He was elected to the AFCA Board of Trustees in 1992 and served as the chairman of the AFCA Meeting Rooms Committee from 1986 to 2002 and Chair of the Public Relations Committee from 2000 to 2006. Additionally, he has been a member of the Ethics Committee since 2004.
Originally from Morristown, N.J., Rees continues to live in Shippensburg and has a grown daughter, Meghan. His wife Patricia died in 1998 and is annually remembered with the Patricia Rees Scholarship.
“I am leaving the football office but I will never really leave Ship,” Rees said. “My wife Patti is buried here and my daughter Meghan is a graduate. Many of my fondest memories are linked to Shippensburg University and the people who make this a special place. It is my home. I will miss the close relationship I have with the coaches, players, trainers and team physicians, but it is time to turn the page in my life and read the next chapter.”
