Eastern Kentucky University Athletics

Erdmann closed his coaching career after 39 glorious years at the helm of Eastern’s track and field, and cross country teams.  He guided the Colonels to 73 Ohio Valley Conference titles and picked up 70 OVC Coach of the Year awards along the way.  He tutored countless All-OVC athletes, 46 All-Americans and three Olympians.  Out of all Erdmann’s conference championships, the one that eluded him had been the OVC men’s outdoor track title.  On May 12, 2018, the Colonels sent their beloved coach out on top, stunning the conference by winning the men’s outdoor title by more than 30 points.  His storybook career closed with a storybook ending two days later when he announced his retirement.  A native of Ligonier, Pennsylvania, like most Pennsylvanians life was all about football and as a youngster.  In 1960, the speedy halfback earned a partial scholarship to play football at Ashland College of Ohio.  In the off-season, he joined Ashland’s track team as a sprinter and upon graduation from Ashland served as a graduate assistant at EKU in the physical education department after visiting the school on a spring break trip to Florida.  After earning his master’s in education from EKU, he coached football and basketball at Hamden Hall, a private institution just north of Yale University.  After a couple of more high school coaching jobs, he landed at Hagerstown Junior College in Maryland where he became that school’s first ever track and field and cross country coach.  He built Hagerstown into a junior college powerhouse, winning 13 consecutive Maryland Junior College titles and a second place finish at the National JUCO championship meet, the school’s highest finish ever, by any sport.  This led to the 1978 National Junior College Cross Country Coach of the Year award which led to notice from EKU and an offer to be its men’s track and field and cross country coach.  Erdmann accepted that offer and the next 39 years were filled with wonderful highlights, championships galore and a legacy that will be hard to match from any sport at any university.  At the June 2018 Board of Regents meeting, he was honored by being named Head Coach Emeritus.