DuWayne Richard Deitz (December 7, 1930 – August 22, 2018) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

and coach. He served as the head coach at the

University of St. Thomas St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: *Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...

from 1970 to 1980, compiling a record of 52–52–2.

Early life and education

Deitz was born on December 7, 1930. He attended Minneapolis Southwest High School and was named conference

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

in 1948. After graduating from there, Deitz served with the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

in the

Korean Conflict The Korean conflict is an ongoing conflict based on the division of Korea between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and South Korea (Republic of Korea), both of which claim to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea ...

, being awarded the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

and a Presidential Unit Citation. In 1952, Deitz joined the

, where he was team captain in football and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. Deitz was named Catholic All-American in 1954 and also was a MIAC champion in shot put. He played

. Deitz graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree and a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

degree.

Coaching career

In 1956, Deitz was hired by Minneapolis Marshall High School as an assistant football coach, wrestling coach, and track and field coach. He was promoted to head football coach in 1958, after the resignation of Norm Kragseth. He was named Minneapolis City Coach of the Year in 1961. On April 12, 1962, Deitz resigned from Minneapolis Marshall to accept a position as head football coach at White Bear Lake High School. "Marshall's enrollment is down and it will be down more by next fall. I just feel in the long run I can do better coaching at a school like White Bear," he said. Deitz ended up coaching eight seasons at White Bear Lake, compiling an overall record of 50–18–4. His final game with the team was the 1969 Suburban Conference football championship game, a 25–20 win over Kellogg High School. In January 1970, Deitz, one of 30 applicants, was chosen to be the next head football coach at the

. In his first year, the St. Thomas Tommies compiled a record of 1–9. They improved to 3–7 in 1971, 6–4 in 1972, and by his fourth season the Tommies went 9–1 for their first conference championship since 1956. For this, he was named the 1973

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) is a college athletic conference which competes in NCAA Division III. All 13 of the member schools are located in Minnesota and are private institutions, with only two being non-sectarian. ...

(MIAC) Coach of the Year. In the subsequent years, St. Thomas compiled records of 5–4 (1974), 3–6 (1975), 7–3 (1976), 4–5–1 (1977), and 5–4 (1978). In 1979, he was awarded for the second time MIAC Coach of the Year, after stunning 7–1 in the season finale, 30–0, to force a four-way tie for the conference championship between St. Thomas, St. John's, , and . Deitz later stated that the 1979 season "was probably the most frustrating but also most rewarding" in his career as a coach. The Tommies started the season dealing with several starters who decided not to return, multiple injuries, and one player's death. They started the season 1–2, but had a 4–0 home record and closed the year with four consecutive wins. "We lacked depth, yet we had some freshmen that came through for us," Deitz said. Among the players on the roster that year was wide receiver Jim Gustafson, who caught the game-winning touchdown pass against Concordia and later made it to the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Following the , in which the Tommies went 3–6–1, Deitz resigned. His career record at the school was 52–52–2. "I've been thinking about giving up football for some time," he said. "It's time I turned over the job to somebody else. I'd like to start spending more time with my wife and family." While at St. Thomas, Deitz coached each of his three sons: Dan, a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

; Doug, a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

; and Dave, a

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. Doug Deitz was later inducted into the St. Thomas Athletic Hall of Fame.

Later life and death

Deitz later served as a member of the St. Thomas physical education faculty. From 1981 to 1984, he served as a member of the White Bear Lake school board. He was inducted into the White Bear Lake High Athletic Hall of Fame and the Minnesota Old Timers Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Deitz died on August 22, 2018, at the age of 87.

Head coaching record

College football

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deitz, DuWayne 1930 births 2018 deaths American football offensive tackles High school football coaches in Minnesota High school wrestling coaches in the United States Players of American football from Minnesota St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies football coaches St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies football players University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) faculty American track and field coaches College track and field coaches in the United States High school track and field coaches in the United States United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War American male track and field athletes American male shot putters