Indiana University Athletics
Assistant Head Coach Pete Schmidt Succumbs to Cancer
9/29/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Pete Schmidt, a former Division III National Coach of the Year, Dies in Bloomington Hospital
Bloomington, Ind. -- Indiana assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach Pete Schmidt passed away earlier today at Bloomington Hospital. He was 52-years-old and had been battling lymphoma since last October. Schmidt is survived by his wife, Becky, and three adult children, Amy, Peter, and Sarah. Funeral arrangements are as follows (tentative): Calling hours: Sunday, October 1, from 4:00-7:00 p.m. EST and Monday, October 2, from 2:00-5:00 p.m. EST at Allen Funeral Home, located at 3000 East 3rd Street in Bloomington. A funeral service and reception will be held at Albion (Mich.) College's Goodrich Chapel on Wednesday, October 4, at 11:00 a.m. EDT. The Schmidt family requests that all donations be made to the IU Foundation (specify Indiana Football Fund), P.O. Box 500, Bloomington, IN, 47402. Albion College President Peter T. Mitchell has announced that the Albion College Trustees has established the Peter Schmidt Education Scholarship. Further details will be announced as they become available.
Said Indiana head football coach Cam Cameron, "Pete was a great husband, father, coach and, most importantly, a man of great faith.
"It's not often you get an opportunity to hire one of your idols yet I was fortunate to be able to do that four years ago when I hired Pete. He will always be an inspirational and motivating force in my life and the lives of many others."
Added University of Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr, "Our state and the coaching profession has lost a great person. I know of few people who had as many friends as Pete Schmidt and that's because he was a special man. And to Pete's family, I want to express my condolences and my sympathies on behalf of myself and my entire coaching staff."
Schmidt was nationally respected for his wide range of skills and experience. At the college level, he had been an athletic director, tenured professor, head football coach, assistant track coach, recruiting and compliance officer, and events management and facilities coordinator. Often, many of these positions were performed concurrently. While working at two different high schools, Schmidt taught physical education and coached football, baseball, and wrestling. However, not only did Schmidt work in a multitude of capacities...he excelled.
It was this type of success and experience that head coach Cam Cameron was looking for when, on December 4, 1996, just days after being named as IU's new head football coach, Cameron hired Schmidt as his assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach. In Schmidt, Cameron found his top assistant but, most importantly, hired one of the top educators, administrators, coaches and people involved in collegiate athletics.
As the head football coach at Albion College from 1983-96, Schmidt compiled a 106-26-5 record and led the Britons to five NCAA playoff appearances and nine Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association championships. In 1994, Albion posted a perfect 13-0 record and defeated Washington & Jefferson, 38-15, to win the NCAA Division III national championship. Following the '94 season, Schmidt was named the Division III NCAA National Coach-of-the-Year and also walked away with Chevrolet National Coach-of-the-Year honors. In 1996, Albion led the country in total offense with a 538 yards per game average, the third highest average in the history of Division III college football. While at Albion, Schmidt also served as the school's athletic director from 1992-96.
The only thing more impressive than Schmidt's winning percentage at Albion was his players' graduation rate. In his 14 years at the Britons' helm, every single senior football player earned a degree. Among this impressive group were eight first-team academic All-America selections and three NCAA Post-Graduate Scholars. On the field, Schmidt helped produce 12 first-team Small College All-America recipients.
A native of Port Austin, Michigan, Schmidt's head coaching experience began in the Michigan prep ranks where, in seven seasons at Okemos High School, his teams posted a 60-13 record. From 1975-81, Okemos won six conference titles, posted three undefeated seasons, and finished as Class B runner-up on two different occasions. In 1980, Schmidt was named Coach-of-the-Year by the Detroit News and was recognized as the Michigan High School Football Class B Coach-of-the-Year. He left Okemos in 1982 to become the defensive coordinator at Albion for one season before becoming the Britons' head coach.
Prior to his head coaching tenure at Okemos, Schmidt began his coaching career in 1970 as the defensive coordinator at Stockbridge (Mich.) High School where he also served as the school's head wrestling coach. He then left Stockbridge and, in 1973 and 1974, served as the defensive coordinator and head baseball coach at Okemos.
Since his arrival as Indiana's assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach prior to the 1997 season, Schmidt helped orchestrate one of the most improved, and productive, offenses in the Big Ten Conference. Indiana averaged 405.9 yards of total offense in 1999 and tallied 30-or-more points in six games, the second highest total in school history. The Hoosiers averaged 5.8 yards per offensive play and recorded an astounding 60 plays of 20-or-more yards from the line of scrimmage.
One of the key reasons for the success of the IU offense was Schmidt's tutelage of an impressive group of young signal callers. Since joining the IU staff, Schmidt was instrumental in developing quarterback Antwaan Randle El, a contender for the 2000 Heisman Trophy. As a sophomore in 1999, Randle El completed 150 of 279 passes for 2,277 yards and 17 touchdowns and also rushed 224 times for 788 yards and 13 scores. Randle El has received national attention for playing with poise beyond his years. After throwing 11 interceptions as a freshman in 1998, Randle El reduced that number to seven this past season and threw only one interception in the final 23 quarters of the 1999 campaign.
In 1998, Schmidt helped Randle El earn Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Year honors. In the first game of his career, he completed 22 of 29 passes for 385 yards and 3 touchdowns and also ran for 82 yards and 3 scores.
During Schmidt's tenure the diversity of Indiana's offense received rave reviews. It is an attack that is so difficult to defend because the Hoosiers may run an option on one play and line up in a four-wide receiver set the very next down. In 1999, Indiana was the only team in the nation who had a 2,000-yard passer, two 750-yard rushers and two 600-yard receivers.
An accomplished athlete at Alma College, Schmidt earned eight letters in football and baseball while playing on three MIAA championship football teams. He was a first-team all-MIAA selection in baseball and also played one year of basketball. In 1970, Schmidt earned a bachelor's degree from Alma in physical education and social studies. While serving as a football graduate assistant at Michigan State, he earned his master's degree in 1981.
The Schmidt File
Birthdate: April 24, 1948
High School: Port Austin (Mich.) High School
College: Alma College - 1970 (Physical Education)
Graduate: Michigan State - 1981
Playing Experience
1966-1970: Alma College (football, baseball, basketball)
Coaching Experience
1970-1973: Stockbridge High School, defensive coordinator
1974-1981: Okemos High School, head coach
1982: Albion College, defensive coordinator
1983-1996: Albion College, head coach
1997-00: Indiana, assistant head coach and quarterbacks
