FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“I’ve always thought of the football field as a big classroom, where I could teach teamwork and discipline along with so many other things,” said Visser, who spoke to his team as if he were speaking to the players he coached in “all 12 of my seasons at Chapman.” “He’s an athletic director’s dream,” said Chapman athletic director David Currey. “He’s as loyal as anyone and has brought so much honor and integrity to the student-athlete as anyone I’ve been associated with in 31 years.” Visser, 60, is the only head coach Chapman has had since bringing football back to the campus in 1994 after a 62-year absence. With the addition of football serving as the centerpiece of the institution’s transition from NCAA Division II to Division III, Visser was hand-picked by Currey to guide the Panthers into a new era in the history of Chapman athletics. “While Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton and U.C. Irvine were dropping football, Chapman was adding it,” said Currey. Chapman remains the only four-year institution in Orange County with an intercollegiate football program. Chapman football thrived under Visser in the first three years of the program, earning a top-25 ranking and a school-best 8-1 record in 1995. Since then, however, Visser has had trouble finding a winning formula and leaves Chapman with a 49-60-1 record overall. Including three seasons at Whittier (1990-93), Visser retires with a career record of 60-77-1. Where Visser has been most successful has been bringing in a high number of quality student-athletes. Since 1994, the Panthers have had 22 Academic All-District selections, two Academic All-America honorees and Visser’s players have played a big role in the athletic department’s graduation rate of 84 percent – a ratio that is higher than that of non-student-athletes at Chapman. Prior to his Division III days, Visser served as a defensive assistant at Long Beach State for 13 seasons (1979-90), where his squad was the Big West leader in defense three times. As the head coach at Servite High School (1974-78), Visser was named Orange County Coach of the Year four of his five seasons. Visser’s departure emphasizes the outlook of transition surrounding Chapman football in the coming months. The Panthers will debut a brand new playing surface in the fall with the unveiling of Wilson Field after playing four home games at nearby Fred Kelly Stadium in 2005.
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ORANGE, Calif. – Ken Visser, the man who helped revive football at Chapman University, will retire as head football coach of the Panthers, effective at the end of the school year. Visser made the announcement to his players in a team meeting held on Monday afternoon. He will pick up additional responsibilities as an assistant athletic director through May, including helping in the transition of hiring a new head coach, as well as moving the football program onto a new facility next fall.