Deromedi to enter hall of fame as coach
Athletics Director Herb Deromedi will be inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame following 37 years of dedication to Central Michigan University and its athletic programs.
Deromedi will be inducted as a coach Tuesday during a ceremony at the Renaissance Center Marriott in Detroit.
“It’s just an incredible honor, and I’m humbled to be selected,” Deromedi said.
Deromedi will be amongst 10 others inductees, which include the likes of Detroit Pistons owner Bill Davidson, Detroit Red Wings and Tigers owner Mike Illitch and former Detroit Lions linebacker Chris Spielman.
It is the fact that Deromedi will go in as a coach and not an administrator that pleases him most.
“I took a great deal of pride in coaching, and I truly loved every moment of being a football coach,” he said.
In 1967, Deromedi came to CMU as a defensive assistant under head coach Roy Kramer.
“My initial intent was to have the opportunity to work with a coach who I admired and wanted to learn from,” Deromedi said. “I wanted to spend time learning and then move on.”
He was the defensive coordinator of CMU’s 1974 Division II National Championship team and became the head coach in 1978.
Deromedi compiled a record of 110-55-10 in 16 seasons and won three conference championships. He is also the winningest coach in MAC history.
Although he was tempted with various offers, Deromedi could not leave.
“I had the opportunity as a head coach to work at schools that were larger and that offered more money,” Deromedi said. “I felt that I had to stay because there was more to accomplish. Each time I sat back and weighed what I wanted to do, and I made the decision to stay at CMU, and I have never regretted it.”
Deromedi was named athletics director after leaving the football program.
“Some of the things I wanted to accomplish, I felt I wouldn’t have the chance to do as a football coach,” Deromedi said. “It was a tough decision to make because I wasn’t really ready to get out of coaching.”
Field hockey coach Cristy Freese acknowledged Deromedi’s contribution to CMU.
“I worked with Herb as a colleague when I first got here, and I think he has done a great job here,” Freese said. “He has taken this university in a great direction in terms of our athletic programs.”
Freese said Deromedi is always available to coaches.
“The thing about Herb is that he is a very active athletics director,” she said. “He is a very hard worker, and most importantly, he is very accessible for coaches to talk to.”
Freese also said that CMU has had a history of exceptional ADs.
“I think the really great thing about CMU is its history of great athletics directors,” Freese said. “Herb had to step into big shoes, and the thing about him that is really great is that he is very well-known across the country.”
The induction ceremony begins with a reception at 6 p.m. and a dinner at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $150 for adults and $75 for people 16-years-old and younger.
