After 32 seasons as a head coach at the high school level, the timing could not have been better for recent Iowa High School Hall of Fame inductee Curt Ritchie to take on a new challenge.
Cornell College (D-III - IA) recently announced the decorated coaching veteran as their new leader.
Ritchie arrives as the new head of the program after spending the past 24 seasons building Williamsburg HS (IA) into a state power.
Over the past 25 seasons, he's directed his programs to 23 playoff appearances, winning the 2023 state title with his Williamsburg squad.
In 24 seasons leading Williamsburg, Ritchie put together an overall record of 204-62, making 17 straight playoff trips, and playing in the state title game four times.
Before taking over at Williamsburg, he was the head coach at English Valleys, where he took them on a deep playoff run in 2000 to the state quarterfinals in what would end up being his final season at the school.
At both high school stops, he's put together a total of 245 wins.
Ritchie shared in Cornell's release of his hire that he believes success is a choice, and his goal is to build a football family everyone loves.
"I think having success is a choice. You have to work for it."
"I want to build a football family where everybody has a love for it, so much that they want to see it continue and help it grow anyway they can," Ritchie said. "It all comes down to the people and making connections. Make people want to be here, and that's what we're excited to build."
He takes over a Cornell program coming off a 5-5 season, their first back-to-back .500 finishes since 2016.
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