When Bill Connell became the head football coach at Quincy Notre Dame in 1992, he assembled a staff with coaches who shared his vision for employing hard-nosed, hard-hitting, aggressive defense. Rick Day epitomized that to a “T.”
Day joined Connell’s staff in 1994 and spent more than two decades as the defensive line coach and defensive coordinator, turning the Raiders into one of the stingiest program’s around.
No game epitomized Day’s influence on an outcome more than the Class 4A state quarterfinal playoff game in 2004 when the Raiders beat top-ranked Mahomet-Seymour 14-10. The Raiders sacked Bulldogs quarterback Bodie Reeder three times, hit him four others and limited him to 44 yards passing.
Mahomet-Seymour came into that game averaging 40.8 points per game, but managed just 10 points and 78 yards of total offense.
Day’s commitment to the QND program — he worked a full-time job and coached on his free time — helped bring stability to a program that saw Day, Brent Fischer, John Wyss, Joe Obert, John Lavery, Chad Duesterhaus, Cory Duesterhaus and others serve on the coaching staff for 10 or more years each.
"I want to thank the Hall of Fame Committee for this honor! To be included with all the great individuals that make up this Hall of Fame is very humbling. I want to thank all of the young men for their hard work and dedication that helped make Notre Dame Football a playoff contender for many years. I want to thank all my fellow coaches for the camaraderie and hard work that helped make Notre Dame football successful.
While I was coaching here, we had some thrilling victories as well as some agonizing defeats but the best part of coaching at Notre Dame is all the good people I have come to know, the players, their families and administrators.
I also would like to thank my wife Lori and my daughters Emily and Olivia for allowing me so much time away from home, that I could pursue my love for the game of football!
Special thanks to Bill Connell, John Wyss, Brent Fischer, John Lavery and Ray Heilmann for all the memories."
-Rick Day