HAMILTON, NY (WUTR/WFXV/WPNY) – Colgate University announced on Tuesday, August 15 that former head football coach Dick Biddle has passed away at the age of 75.

Biddle was the Raiders’ head football coach from 1996 to 2013, and was the winningest coach in Colgate and Patriot League history, with a record of 137-73 over 18 seasons and an 81-27 conference record. He led the Raiders to seven conference Championships and garnered five Patriot League Coach of the Year honors. The league’s Coach of the Year award is now named in his honor.

Biddle also led the Raiders to a 15-1 record in 2003, the only blemish in that season coming in the Division I-AA championship game, where they lost to the University of Delaware. It remains the only time that a Patriot League team has appeared in a Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game.

During Biddle’s first stay in Hamilton from 1977 to 1982, he was a defensive line coach, where he helped the Raiders to five winning seasons before stints at Virginia Tech, Minnesota and the Naval Academy. He would return to Colgate in 1992 as an assistant coach before ascending to the head coaching position in 1996.

Biddle was also a 1971 graduate of Duke University, where he was a two-time All-ACC linebacker and was named to the AP All-American Third Team. He would also be named to the Colgate Athletics Hall of Honor in 2015, and in 2021, was listed on the ballot for the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Hall of Fame.

In October of 2021, the university dedicated three different pieces of Andy Kerr Stadium to Biddle. The Raiders now walk from the locker room onto Biddle Way to make their way into the stadium and enter the field through the plaza that bears his name as well. The stadium’s video scoreboard bears Coach Biddle’s name as well.

“Very few people can impact a football program, at any level, the way Coach did over his tenure here,” current Colgate head football coach Stan Dakosty said in a statement. “He was unapologetic about his desire to win, and to win championships. He led with a sense of toughness and grit. He was Colgate Football personified. I don’t think Coach ever truly appreciated the impact he had on his players or this program. Personally, I owe so much to him, and I know many others do as well. There is no doubt his name and legacy will live on.

“I take great solace knowing the fact that as long as we play football here at Colgate, his impact on the program will never be forgotten.”