Daniel Leon Kratzer (born July 7, 1949) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

coach. He played as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). Kratzer served as the head football coach at Ohio Northern (1984–1985),

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

(1990–1994), Lindenwood (1995–2000), and South Dakota Mines (2005–2011), compiling a career college football coaching record of 90–116–1.

Playing career

Kratzer, a

, played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

in Lathrop, Missouri before playing

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks and Missouri Valley in the early 1970. Kratzer holds the NAIA record for average yards per catch for a season with 30.63, on 30 catches for 919 yards, set in 1970. Professionally, he was an eighth round draft pick of the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

in the

1972 NFL draft The 1972 NFL draft was the 37th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft was held on February 1 and 2 at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overal ...

, but did not play for them; he only played in a single game in 1973 for the

Coaching career

Kratzer was an assistant under

Sam Wyche Samuel David Wyche (; January 5, 1945 – January 2, 2020) was an American professional football quarterback and coach. He was a quarterback and head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals and a quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. As hea ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

in 1983 before being named the head football coach at

Ohio Northern University Ohio Northern University (Ohio Northern or ONU) is a private college in Ada, Ohio, United States. Founded by Henry Solomon Lehr in 1871, ONU offers over 60 programs across five undergraduate and graduate colleges and is affiliated with the Unit ...

. He later was the third head football coach at Lindenwood located in

St. Charles, Missouri Saint Charles (commonly abbreviated St. Charles) is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 70,493 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making St. Charles the List of cities in ...

, and he held that position for six seasons, from 1995 until 2000. His overall coaching record at Lindenwood was 29–35. Prior to that, he also served as head coach for three Missouri high schools for seven total seasons, head coach at Ohio Northern for two seasons, earned two conference championships during his five years at

. His longest tenure was his last serving as head coach at the South Dakota School of Mines for seven years, ending in 2011 and marking SDSM&T's transition to NCAA Division II.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kratzer, Dan 1949 births Living people American football wide receivers Hastings Broncos football coaches Indiana Hoosiers football coaches Kansas City Chiefs players Kent State Golden Flashes football coaches Lindenwood Lions football coaches Miami RedHawks football coaches Missouri Valley Vikings football coaches Missouri Valley Vikings football players Ohio Northern Polar Bears football coaches South Dakota Mines Hardrockers football coaches High school football coaches in Missouri People from Kearney, Missouri Sportspeople from Clay County, Missouri Coaches of American football from Missouri Players of American football from Missouri