Salem, Joe
Born May 1, 1938. Sioux Falls (1956 Cathedral H.S. grad). 1961 Minnesota grad. At USD in 1966, he inherited a team that had won a total of nine games the previous six seasons. Led USD to NCC football titles in 1972, ’73 and ’74. He was 51-38-2 in nine years (1966-74) at USD. Later coached […]
Schroeder, Bob
The Miller High and University of South Dakota grad was an extremely successful high school football, basketball and track coach at Miller from the 1940s to the mid-1970s, and he coached two of the greatest teams in state history. Schroeder was an accomplished athlete at Miller while competing in those three sports. He was the […]
Seely, Brad
A 1974 Baltic High School and 1978 SDSU graduate, Brad Seely was considered one of the greatest special teams coaches in NFL history. He coached for the three New England Super Bowl-winning teams in 2001, 2003, and 2004. Seely was an All-State high school football player, all-conference basketball player, and state track & field meet […]
Sherrill, Marv
The most successful high school wrestling coach in state history, Sherrill guided Watertown for 35 years before retiring after the 2003 season. Sherrill’s Arrows earned eight state Class A titles and had nine runner-up finishes. No coach has won more state wrestling titles. Watertown also won 14 Eastern South Dakota Conference championships and was region […]
Stephenson, Warren
Native of Nebraska City, Neb. Peru (Neb.) State. Football and basketball coach at Yankton High. Yankton’s basketball teams reached the state tourney every year he coached there (1927-35), winning state titles in 1928, ’29 and ’31 and finishing second in ’30. The 1928 team took part in the last of the national prep tourneys held […]
Stiegelmeier, John “Stig”
1975 Selby/1979 SDSU graduate. SDSU’s winningest football coach in school history, with a 199-112 record in 26 seasons. Retired after the 2022 season in which the Jackrabbits won the FCS Division I national title. The Jacks were national runners-up during the spring 2021 season. Beginning in 2004, Stiegelmeier led SDSU’s transition from NCAA DII to […]
Swisher, Clark
Born March 27, 1916 in Vermillion. 1934 Vermillion HS grad. 1938 USD grad. Was a coach and/or athletic director at Northern State from 1946-1986. When he started at NSU, he coached football, basketball, track, tennis and golf – with no assistants. The winningest football coach in NSU history, he was 146-42-4 with four perfect seasons […]
Taplett, Howard
Born May 23, 1921. 1939 Tyndall High and 1943 University of South Dakota grad. Taplett built Tyndall into a Class B track power. In 16 years as Tyndall’s coach, Taplett coached the Panthers to seven state Class B titles (1953-56, 1960 and 1966-67) and one runner-up finish (1965). The four consecutive titles is a feat […]
Timmins, Buck
(Born 1948. Died 2020.) 1966 Mitchell/1971 Dakota Wesleyan graduate. Timmins was one of South Dakota’s premier promoters of all sports as a teacher, coach, administrator and official. He won numerous awards in each of those categories. Timmins coached all different sports during a 36-year career at Avon (seven years) and Parkston (29 years). He started […]
Tjeerdsma, Mel
The Springfield High and 1967 graduate of Southern State in Springfield was one of the most successful coaches in the history of college football. He coached Northwest Missouri State to a 183-43 record and three NCAA Division II titles in 17 seasons. Northwest was 0-11 in Tjeerdsma’s first season in 1994, then went 183-32 the […]