by Alan Babbitt

Rylee Schultz is forever grateful for the five seasons he spent as a member of the Hope College football team until the tutelage of retiring defensive coordinator Mike Ricketts.

"Coach Ricketts is a legend," said Schultz, a starting defensive tackle on Hope's past two MIAA championship teams. He graduated from Hope after majoring in business and economics and is now working in management for Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

"When you first meet him, he's very intimidating. He's tough. He's hard on you, asks for 100 percent all the time," Schultz said. "For me personally, I went through some of the hardest times of my life during college. He helped me through them. It's hard to express how thankful I am for him. I feel like anything life throws at me I've got it handled."

Ricketts has decided to retire from Hope this summer after coaching 23 seasons with the Flying Dutchmen.

"It is great to leave because I can while still being productive and enjoying it," Ricketts said. 

Mentoring student-athletes such as Schultz made coaching at Hope immensely gratifying, Ricketts said.

"Hope College has provided me the opportunity to develop professionally to encourage and assist the players in their overall development, academically, athletically, and personally," Ricketts said. "The reward has been seeing players develop during their college years and experience success and enjoyment after graduation."

Photo gallery from Mike Ricketts' coaching career at Hope

Last fall, Ricketts guided the MIAA's No. 1 scoring defense (14.5 points per allowed) and No. 2 total defense (291.7 yards per game allowed). Hope finished with an 8-2 overall record and were MIAA co-champions.

"We're so appreciative of the opportunities we've had to work with such an outstanding human being," head coach Peter Stuursma said. "Coach Ricketts has impacted a lot of players, impacted the institution and our football program in so many positive ways. He's done it with such class and grace."

Added safety Toby Hulst, an All-MIAA Second Team safety last fall as a senior, "Coach Ricketts was an integral part of Hope Football for as long as I've known. I have a unique view of playing safety for him for four years; he was my position coach and coordinator. I think about his attention to detail. There was nothing in practice or anything he missed. His drive was evident to all of our players. He really valued our performance off the field, too. It was the full picture to him."

In all, Ricketts has been coaching football since 1988 when he started as a graduate assistant at Eastern Illinois University. He was a member of Hope's coaching staff over two stints: from 1994 to 1998 and 2003 to 2021.

As a student-athlete, Ricketts was a three-time NCAA national champion at Augustana College (Illinois) from 1984 to 1986. He helped Augustana win 60 consecutive games. As a senior, he earned All-America honors at linebacker in 1987 during a 10-win season for the Vikings.