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Dean Kreps has been an integral part of the Hope College football program
for nearly three decades. He has moved up through the ranks, serving as
an assistant coach for nine years before becoming head coach in 1995. In
18 seasons
as head coach he has guided the Flying Dutchmen to six MIAA championships
(1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2007) while posting an 94-82 overall record
and 76-31
mark in conference games, When Hope won a league co-championship in 2007,
coach Kreps joined an elite group of coaches to win six or more conference
football championships during their career. He became just the fifth coach
in the
114-year
history of MIAA football to accomplish the feat.
A member of the Hope faculty since 1986, he is an associate professor of kinesiology. Prior to being named head coach, he served nine years as a member of the football coaching staff. He was defensive coordinator from 1991-94. Kreps, 50, is only the sixth full-time head football coach at Hope since 1917.
An Illinois native, Kreps served as a graduate assistant football coach at the University of Illinois prior to joining the Hope staff. He is a 1984 graduate of Monmouth College in Illinois, where he played football four years, serving as captain his senior year. He received the master of science degree in athletic administration from the University of Illinois in 1986.
He was active in student activities as a Monmouth undergraduate, receiving the Monmouth College Student Association Award for service to the college community.
His teaching specialty is athletic administration and sports management.
Since coming to Hope he has initiated a summer football camp program which
annually attracts up to 300 athletes. He is active in the Fellowship of Christian
Athletes and at the First Presbyterian Church in Holland, where he is serving
as an elder.
He serves on the Board of Coaches that votes in the weekly USA Today / American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III poll and is a member of the NCAA Division III North Region playoff selection committee. He has also served on the AFCA Division III All-American selection committee and the association's national officers nominating committee.
Kreps and his wife Kathy have two sons, Kyle and Sam. Kathy is a physical
education teacher at Holland (Mich.) High School. Kyle
graduated from Hope College in 2013 and Sam will be a freshman at Hope in 2013-14..
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