Dave Rader

Having coached college football in four decades, David is best known for his 12 seasons as head coach of the University of Tulsa.  At age 29 he was the youngest Offense Coordinator in the Southeastern Conference.  Then his alma mater made him the youngest head coach at the time in Division I NCAA football at the age of 31.

David has been awarded the NCAA District Coach of the Year honor in 1991 after his Freedom Bowl Champion University of Tulsa team finished 22nd in the national polls.  He was appointed to the American Football Coaches Association Ethics Committee, and served as the representative of Independent Universities to the now defunct College Football Association. Many of his student athletes went on to play in the NFL including seven of his quarterbacks, and many more to productive careers outside of athletics. His Tulsa teams consistently graduated at a higher rate than the University body in general, as well as upsetting much larger programs like Texas A&M, University of Oklahoma, University of Missouri, University of Iowa, and Oklahoma State University.

David is honored to be a member of four Halls of Fame

-       Will Rogers High School

-       Independence Bowl

-       University of Tulsa Athletic (1991 Team)

-       Tulsa Public Schools Athletic

David lives in Tulsa with his wife of over 35 years, Janet. They have 3 children; Daniel, retired as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy with a Mechanical Engineering degree from OSU and now working in OKC, and is married to Deidra; Jordan, PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology living in New Jersey, and is married to Emily; and Kendal, a graduate from TCU with a Speech Pathology degree and the University of Tulsa with her Masters, and now employed by Bixby Public Schools.

David is an author and his book, Missing Page from the Playbook  - Fundamentals Behind the Physical, Mental, and Emotional Elements of Commitment, was released Fall 2011.