Tim Rucks (December 21, 1960 – March 10, 2015) 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 ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach at

North Park University North Park University is a private Christian university in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1891 by the Evangelical Covenant Church. It is located on Chicago's north side and enrolls more than 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students. His ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

from 1990 to 1994 and

Carthage College Carthage College is a private college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It enrolls 2,600 full-time and 200 part-time students. Carthage awards bachelor's degrees with majors in more th ...

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

from 1995 to 2012, compiling a career

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 ...

coaching record of 104–112–4.

Early life an playing career

Rucks was born on December 21, 1960 in

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and graduated from

Waukegan West High School ''(Fortress or Trading Post)'' , image_flag = , image_seal = , blank_emblem_size = 150 , blank_emblem_type = Logo , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivisi ...

in 1979. Rucks played

, under head coach Art Keller. A first-team

College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) is a college athletic conference which competes in the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). CCIW schools have accounted for 50 national championships i ...

(CCIW), player in his senior year, Rucks graduated in 1983. Rucks was drafted by the

Denver Gold The Denver Gold was a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second major professional American football, football league in the United States, playing a springtime season, from 1983 to 1985. The Gold played the ...

in the 14th round of the inaugural

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

Draft in 1983, right ahead of future

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

quarterback

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United State ...

and punter

Sean Landeta Sean Edward Landeta (born January 6, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in both the United States Football League (USFL) and the National Football League (NFL). Landeta played 22 seasons in the NFL for f ...

. However, he decided to forego the USFL, instead signing a free agent contract with 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 ...

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

on May 5 of that year. Only three months later, Rucks was released by the Jets on August 12. In 1984, Rucks played for the Racine Gladiators, being named to the all-league and all minor-league teams, and in 1985 for the Chicago Chargers. Inducted into the American Football Association Semi-Pro Hall of Fame in 2002, Rucks later served on the Gladiators' (now known as the Racine Raiders) Board of Directors.

Coaching career

High school

Rucks was an assistant coach from 1986 to 1988 at

Niles North High School Niles North High School, officially Niles Township High School North, is a public four-year high school located in Skokie, Illinois, a North Shore (Chicago), North Shore suburb of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It is part of Niles Townshi ...

Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's do ...

North Park

Rucks was the head football coach at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Having started as an assistant coach in 1989, Rucks was promoted to head coach in 1990, becoming the NCAA's youngest head football coach at 29. Ruck served as head coach for five seasons, until 1994, compiling a record of 9–33–3.

Carthage

After North Park, Rucks became the head football coach at his alma mater, Carthage. Before Rucks took over, the Red Men had not had a single winning season in their previous 13 years. Rucks quickly turned the team's fortunes around, accomplishing winning records in three of their first four seasons. In 2004, Rucks led the Red Men to their first Division III football playoff in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, advancing all the way to the quarterfinals. For that he was named the Coach of the Year for the CCIW and the Division III North Region. In 2009, Rucks was named Wisconsin Private College Football Coach of the Year. Rucks stepped down following the 2012 season. His coaching record at Carthage was 95–79–1.

Later life and death

After retiring as the coach, Rucks remained with Carthage as an assistant athletic director and academic advisor. In 2014, Rucks was inducted into the

Wisconsin Football Coaches Association The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association is an association of American football coaches on all levels within the state of Wisconsin. An annual clinic of members is held in Madison, Wisconsin to promote the sport, primarily at the high school lev ...

Hall of Fame. On March 10, 2015, Rucks was found unconscious in his car, which had been in a one-car accident in Kenosha. Emergency crews were unable to resuscitate him. His death was ruled a heart attack.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rucks, Tim 1960 births 2015 deaths American football offensive tackles Carthage Firebirds football coaches Carthage Firebirds football players New York Jets players North Park Vikings football coaches High school football coaches in Illinois Road incident deaths in Wisconsin Sportspeople from Waukegan, Illinois Coaches of American football from Illinois Players of American football from Illinois