University of Dayton assistant football coach Dave Whilding has announced that he will retire from the University. Whilding, 62, is completing his 35th year at UD. He will coach his last game Saturday when the Flyers play at Drake.
“I’ve enjoyed all 35 years. That’s all I can say,” Whilding said. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. It’s been a pleasure for me to work with a lot of good people, and it’s been fun coaching these kids. We have great kids, and they are competitive.
“We have great people at the University of Dayton, and not just in athletics. It’s not like this everywhere, I’m convinced of that. I’m thankful for the opportunity that Rick Carter, and then Mike Kelly gave me. And it’s been fun working with Rick (Chamberlin) all these years.”
Whilding has spent the last 31 years coaching UD’s quarterbacks and the last 29 serving as offensive coordinator. He inherited a school-record games-without-being shutout streak that began in 1976, and extended it to its current 396 games, the longest active streak in college football and the longest-ever in FCS football.
“It has been a pleasure and honor to have worked with Coach Whilding, in my case for these past 33 years,” Dayton head coach Rick Chamberlin said. “He is one of the best offensive coordinators in college football, and he is a big reason for the success our football program enjoys. Our players, fellow coaches and everyone in the UD athletics division will miss him.”
Whilding was an integral part of four national championship football teams at Dayton (1980 and 1989 NCAA Division III and 2002 and 2007 I-AA Mid-Major), and 11 Pioneer Football League champions.
Of the 17 new starting quarterbacks in Whilding’s 31 years of coaching the position, 11 took over with less than 20 career passes to their credit. Yet the Flyer offense kept clicking.
At present, three of his quarterbacks have been inducted into the University of Dayton Athletic Hall of Fame. During a five-year period in the 1990’s, three Flyer QB’s led their respective NCAA Divisions in passing efficiency. In career total offense, nine of the top ten players in UD history are Whilding quarterbacks.
Whilding and his wife Evie live in Jamestown. Their daughter Amy graduated from UD in 1995. A native of Xenia, Whilding earned his backelor’s degree from Earlham College in 1971. He played quarterback there for Rick Carter, the coach who brought him to UD. Whilding’s last day at the University will be Dec. 15.
