Dave Richardson retires from Verona after legendary football coaching career
VERONA, Wis. — Dave Richardson is a Wisconsin football legend. Through a long career spent in Wisconsin high school sports, he compiled a stellar reputation and is one of only 58 coaches in state history to reach the milestone of 200 victories.
After the 2021 football season where he was named Big 8 Coach of the Year, Richardson called it a career with 202 wins.
A native of Madison, Wisconsin, he began his coaching career with the hometown Madison Holy Name Seminary in 1985. He started at the school by teaching part time, and eventually became head football coach. After Holy Name鈥檚 closure in 1995, Richardson coached for Wisconsin Rapids Assumption and Whitefish Bay Dominican High School before ultimately arriving at Verona Area High School near his hometown of Madison.
Here, he was able to truly find success 鈥� his Verona teams won their conference eight times, reached three State Semi-Finals, and Richardson even led his team to a State Championship Runner-Up finish in 2008.
His level of success with Verona was made even more notable in the context of the program鈥檚 history. When he first joined the Verona football program in 2000, no players on the varsity team had ever won a single football game. However, he quickly instituted some changes. Namely, Richardson ramped up the school鈥檚 strength and conditioning program with a unique incentive. 鈥淎t first we got a couple of kids, then six, then ten, and then I started saying 鈥榠f you bring a buddy in鈥鈥檒l start serving you breakfast every Friday鈥�,鈥� Richardson remembered, laughing. 鈥淥nce word got out that I was serving breakfast, then we got thirty, forty, fifty kids showing up every morning.鈥� Richardson鈥檚 creativity and commitment to inclusion and equity continued to help the football program grow through the coming years.
Richardson鈥檚 VAHS Wildcats only won two games in his first season, but in the following season the program made a turn for the better. Verona was able to earn a thrilling 29-28 triple overtime win over a strong DeForest team in 2001 to give the school a long-awaited playoff appearance. To make it even more special, Verona capped off the game in one of the most exciting fashions possible while trailing by one point in sudden death overtime. 鈥淚 said to my assistant, 鈥業鈥檓 tired and we need to go home, let鈥檚 score two points [and win it]鈥�,鈥� Richardson says. Of course, they did. That underdog 2001 team was even able to go on to win two playoff games, including an upset over regional number one seed Wilmot Union. The next season, the Wildcats clinched their first conference championship in nearly 30 years and again made a playoff appearance.
In 2008, Verona鈥檚 most successful season under Richardson, the team was able to reach the Wisconsin Division II State Championship following a magical run of four straight playoff victories, including a 28-14 win over Hamilton in the semi-final round. 鈥淭o me, the most memorable game by far was the semi-final game that got us to that [State Final] game. All the work and all the sacrifice had finally paid off after more than twenty years of trying to reach the Final鈥ur kids played so hard on both sides of the ball,鈥� Richardson said. The Wildcats were ultimately defeated in the title game by Kimberly, but they proved the toughness and ability passed down by their head coach in the process.
The legacy of a high school football coach is not limited to wins and losses 鈥� rather, it is also measured in the impact that a coach can have on his players. Throughout his career, Richardson focused his players鈥� attention on three words: integrity, dedication, and courage. All combined, these words encouraged Verona players and students to do what鈥檚 right all the time, even when it鈥檚 not popular. Richardson says that his program has always focused on life lessons, and on making students into great people throughout their lives. 鈥淧eople have always come up to me before the season and asked, 鈥楬ow鈥檚 the team look this year?鈥�, and I say that I鈥檒l tell them in twenty years,鈥� Richardson said. 鈥淏y then they鈥檙e going to be husbands, be fathers, be in the workforce鈥hen I鈥檒l be able to see what impact the football program had on those players.鈥� There鈥檚 no doubt that Dave Richardson has greatly impacted the youth who have passed through his football program, instilling in them the value that organized sports can bring on and off the field.
More than anything, a lifetime spent coaching brings memories 鈥� memories of players, teams, games, and moments. Coach Richardson carries a football field鈥檚 worth of these memories into his retirement and leaves the Verona football program better than he found it.
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