About Dick Tharp

A Central Illinois Football Legacy That Still Lives On

To understand why the Dick Tharp Memorial Football Golf Outing matters, you first have to understand why Coach Tharp began coaching in the first place.

Richard Dean Tharp first knew he wanted to coach football when he was only ten years old. In 1941, he attended a snowy football game at Clinton High School with his older brother. As he watched the man on the sideline directing the players on the field, something took hold in him. From that moment on, he knew what he wanted to do with his life. He was going to be a football coach.

That childhood decision became the foundation for a life of discipline, toughness, teaching, leadership, and influence.

A Young Competitor With a Coach’s Heart

Coach Tharp loved sports, but football was his favorite. Growing up in Farmer City, he played and lettered in multiple sports and developed a deep love for competition. Though undersized, he was known for giving maximum effort and refusing to back down from older or stronger competition.

He would go to the local field and join games already in progress. At times, minor league ballplayers would come through the area and join those games. When needed, young Dick Tharp would catch behind the plate, even against much older players. The physical toll could be painful, but his drive to compete always pushed him forward.

Those early experiences helped shape the qualities that later defined him as a coach: toughness, intelligence, discipline, persistence, and a refusal to accept less than a full effort.

Military Service, Family, and the Beginning of a Coaching Career

Like many young men of his generation, Coach Tharp entered military service. He enlisted in the Coast Guard and was stationed in Louisiana, where he met the woman who would become his wife.

After his enlistment ended, he pursued his degree and continued moving toward the calling he had carried since childhood. He later said that he would have liked to play football at ISNU, but with a young family, he no longer had the time to commit to playing the game. Instead, he committed himself to teaching it.

After earning his degree, Coach Tharp and his family returned to Louisiana, where he began teaching and coaching at Larose-Cutoff High School. There, he assisted in football, basketball, and track for five years. The PDF source notes that his football work there included a 10-1-1 assistant coaching record.

Returning to Illinois: Mahomet-Seymour

In 1960, Coach Tharp returned to Illinois and found work at Mahomet-Seymour High School and Junior High. He coached junior high basketball and served as an assistant high school football coach under Leo Vitali, a respected coach later recognized as a Hall of Fame inductee.

During Coach Tharp’s time assisting the Mahomet-Seymour varsity football team, the Bulldogs compiled an impressive 24-1 record. He also coached the Fresh-Soph team to a 4-2 record.

Those years gave him valuable experience, but his childhood dream had not changed. He still wanted to become a head football coach.

Undefeated at St. Joseph-Ogden

In the fall of 1964, Coach Tharp was hired as the head football coach at St. Joseph-Ogden. After years of preparation, discipline, and persistence, he had achieved the goal he first set in his heart as a young boy watching football from the stands in Clinton.

He did not waste the opportunity.

Over the next two seasons, St. Joseph-Ogden did not lose a football game. Coach Tharp’s teams went 16-0 in 1964 and 1965. The 1965 squad placed 9 of the 22 players on the all-ECC first team, reflecting the high level of play and preparation that marked his teams.

Those St. Joseph-Ogden teams were known for smart, methodical, tough, and athletic football. They reflected the character of their coach: determined, steadfast, disciplined, and driven to succeed.

Taking the Helm at Normal Community High School

In 1966, Coach Tharp became the head football coach at Normal Community High School. He replaced George Evans and took over an Ironmen football program that would soon become one of the most respected programs in Central Illinois.

From 1966 through 1987, Coach Tharp led NCHS football with consistency and excellence. His record at Normal Community was 158-50-5. His overall head coaching record, including his undefeated years at St. Joseph-Ogden, was 174-50-5, a winning percentage of .759.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, high school football continued to grow in popularity across the country. Programs everywhere were looking for ways to become more competitive. In Central Illinois, Coach Tharp and the Ironmen became a measuring stick.

To compete with Normal Community, other schools had to raise their level of preparation, toughness, discipline, and execution. Coach Tharp did not merely build strong teams. He raised the standard for the region.

Conference and Playoff Impact

The historical notes preserved in the source document show the breadth of Coach Tharp’s impact across multiple conferences and decades.

• Cornbelt Conference, 1966-1971: 42-11-2 record.
• Capitol Conference, 1972-1982: 74-27-3 record.
• Big Twelve, 1983-1987: 42-10 record.
• Playoff Matchups: 7-7 record across listed playoff appearances.

The source document also lists a wide range of programs and coaches who competed against Coach Tharp’s teams, including Central Catholic, U-High, Bloomington, Decatur St. Teresa, Washington, Pontiac, Clinton, Champaign Centennial, Champaign Central, Danville, Peoria Manual, Peoria High, Urbana, Jacksonville, Lanphier, MacArthur, Southeast, Belleville West, Bartonville Limestone, LaSalle-Peru, Peoria Richwoods, and others.

This broad list tells a simple story: Coach Tharp’s influence was not narrow. His teams competed across Central Illinois and beyond, and the standard he set was felt by many programs.

The Standard Continued After Coach Tharp

Coach Tharp retired after the 1987 season, but the standard he established did not retire with him.

After his tenure, NCHS continued to build upon the foundation he helped create. The source document references John McIntyre, Hud Venerable, Wes Temples, and Jason Drengwitz as part of the continued leadership line at Normal Community.

Coach McIntyre went on to great success, including state championship success at Central Catholic. Coach Hud Venerable maintained and elevated the standards at NCHS, leading the Ironmen to their first state championship in 2006.

That 2006 championship staff also included Terry McCombs, a former opposing coach who had once competed fiercely against Coach Tharp while leading Bloomington High School. In time, Coach McCombs joined the NCHS staff and helped contribute to one of the great milestones in Ironmen football history.

The legacy continued through Coach Temples and now through Coach Jason Drengwitz, with the Ironmen continuing to produce strong, playoff-caliber football year after year.

A Coaching Tree That Reached Across Illinois

Coach Tharp’s influence extended through the players and coaches who learned from him and then carried those lessons into their own programs.

The source document names former players and coaches whose careers reached schools and communities across Illinois, including Darrell Crouch, Mike Goodwin, Kirk Brandenburg, Tim Funk, Gary Woods, Jim Baker, Joe Boyd, Dave Caslow, Steve Price, and others.

Darrell Crouch, who played for Coach Tharp, went on to a highly successful head coaching career at Washington High School. Kirk Brandenburg also played for Coach Tharp and later served as a head coach at Hardin Calhoun and Prairie Central. Mike Goodwin, another former player, held head coaching positions around the state and became widely regarded for his football knowledge and mentoring of players and coaches.

Coach Goodwin also played a central role in keeping Coach Tharp’s legacy alive, helping lead the effort to have the NCHS football field named in Coach Tharp’s honor before Coach Tharp’s passing in 2021.

The Unit 5 Connection: NCHS and NCWHS

One of the most important reasons this year’s golf outing includes both Normal Community High School and Normal Community West High School is because the connections between the two football programs run deep.

Gary Woods coached at NCHS under Coach Tharp and later served as Athletic Director at Normal Community before becoming the first Athletic Director at Normal Community West High School when it opened in 1995.

Jim Baker, who had been an assistant for Coach Tharp at NCHS, became the first head football coach at NCWHS in 1995. He was joined by several coaches with NCHS connections, including former players and coaches shaped by the same football culture Coach Tharp helped establish.

That means the story of Coach Tharp’s influence is not limited to one sideline. His impact helped shape the wider Unit 5 football family, including both the Ironmen and the Wildcats.

Why the Golf Outing Matters

The Dick Tharp Memorial Football Golf Outing exists to honor a coach whose influence still reaches players, coaches, families, and communities today.

For years, the outing has proudly supported NCHS Ironmen Football and scholarship opportunities connected to Coach Tharp’s legacy. In 2026, that mission expands to include NCWHS Wildcats Football as well.

This is not simply a broader fundraiser. It is a more complete reflection of Coach Tharp’s true influence.

With The A-Train bringing additional scholarship support to the table, this year’s outing carries even greater importance. It is a chance to honor the past while investing in the next generation of student-athletes from both Unit 5 high school football programs.

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