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Pat Rice - Waunakee

07/14/2014, 1:45pm CDT
By WFCA

Pat was born a coach’s son in Sparta, Wisconsin on March 19th, 1963 to Bill (WFCA HOF) and Becky Rice. He graduated from McFarland High School in 1981 where he earned nine varsity letters in football, wrestling and baseball. He earned all-conference and all region awards in football and wrestling.  Pat attended UW-Madison and earned his degrees in physical education and health with a coaching minor.  He was an assistant football coach at Oregon HS from 1983-1985 and McFarland HS in 1986. In 1987 he began teaching and coaching at Jefferson High School where he taught physical education and was an assistant varsity football and wrestling coach.  In 1988 Pat moved to Waunakee High School as the defensive coordinator under fellow WFCA Hall of Fame Coach, mentor, and friend, Gayle Quinn. 

In 1992, Pat took over as the head coach at Waunakee.  In his first 21 seasons, he compiled an incredible 224 wins with only 30 losses. The 88.2% winning percentage is the highest for any coach with over 200 wins in state history.  His teams have won five state championships (1999, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011) and were state runner-up three times (2001, 2005, 2012).  They have been to the state semi-finals 12 times, including an amazing run of 7 consecutive years from 1997-2003. Under Coach Rice, his teams have won 14 conference championships in the last 15 years and have been to the playoffs 18 consecutive years. During the seasons of 2009-2012, Waunakee set the state record with a 48-game winning streak, in addition his teams authored a 15-year home winning streak at Warrior Stadium from 1998 – 2013.

In his 21 years as the head coach, Pat has received numerous coaching honors including Badger Conference Coach of the Year eleven times, WFCA All-District/Region Coach of the Year seven times and State Coach of the year.

Tag(s): Hall of Fame