Donald George Ridler (April 2, 1909 – June 4, 1963) was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for Michigan State College (later known as

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

) and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Indians during the 1931 season. He later became the football coach and athletic director at

Lawrence Technological University Lawrence Technological University (LTU) (Lawrence Tech) is a private university in Southfield, Michigan. It was founded in 1932 in Highland Park, Michigan, as the Lawrence Institute of Technology (LIT) by Russell E. Lawrence. The university move ...

. He remained the athletic director at Lawrence Tech for 25 years. He also served as the school's basketball coach starting in the mid-1940s and led the team to the

1951 National Invitation Tournament The 1951 National Invitation Tournament was the fourteenth edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. Held in New York City at Madison Square Garden, its championship was on Saturday, March 17, and BYU defeated Dayton by nineteen ...

. Ridler served as entertainment director for the Michigan State Fair from 1950 to 1962. He died at his home in

Novi, Michigan Novi ( ) is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the population was 66,243, an increase of 20% from the 2010 census. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Novi is located about northwest of the city of D ...

, in 1963 at age 54.

Head coaching record

Football

References

External links

* * 1909 births 1963 deaths American football tackles Cleveland Indians (NFL 1931) players Michigan State Spartans football players Lawrence Tech Blue Devils athletic directors Lawrence Tech Blue Devils football coaches Lawrence Tech Blue Devils men's basketball coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Players of American football from Detroit Coaches of American football from Michigan Basketball coaches from Michigan {{Amfoot-bio-stub