Faculty
Education and Exercise Science Division

Craig Rutter,
Associate Professor of Sport Science
Assistant Athletic Director for Student Athlete Engagement

Bio
Rutter became the head baseball coach at Defiance College in the spring of 1983 and served in that capacity through the 2001 season.  Over that period of time, his teams amassed 286 wins, placing him atop the list for coaching victories in baseball at Defiance College.  Rutter was named the Hoosier-Buckeye Collegiate Conference Coach-of-the-Year in 1985 and the Association of Mideast Colleges Coach-of-the-Year in 1995 after winning the AMC conference title.   

During his tenure as head baseball coach at Defiance College, Rutter served two years on the games committee for the NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, four years on the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee, and twelve years as chair of the Editorial Committee for the American Baseball Coaches Association and editor of the Coaching Digest.

In the spring of 2002, Defiance College paid tribute to his efforts as head baseball coach by renaming Alumni Field, Craig A. Rutter Field.

From 2001-06, Rutter served the College as the Director of Service Learning.  He has provided opportunities for students, faculty, staff, alums, and community partners to participate in service experiences locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.  Rutter has led three trips to Biloxi, Mississippi, before and after Hurricane Katrina, to aid the people in that area.  He has taken service teams to the Oglala Lakota Indian Reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, the second poorest county in the United States; to inner-city Detroit to assist the Good News Gang Metro and Detroit World Outreach with service projects in the local neighborhoods; and he has directed 18 trips to Jamaica, serving the people of that country through the building of homes, teaching in the schools, and witnessing to the children in three orphanages. 

Rutter currently serves the College as Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Engagement, Coordinator for Experiential Learning, Head Women’s Golf Coach, and Associate Professor of Sport Science.  He and his wife, Gayle, have three daughters and five granddaughters.

Contact
Phone:419-783-2374
Email: crutter@defiance.edu