Denison University head football coach Jack Hatem has announced the hiring of Keith Rucker as the Big Red's defensive coordinator.  A seven-year veteran of the National Football League with 20 years of coaching experience, Rucker joins the Denison coaching staff after spending the last three years as an assistant coach at Capital University.
 
"I am very excited to have Coach Rucker join the Big Red Football family," said Hatem. "Keith has an extensive amount of football experience as a player at the highest level and as a coach that I am positive will benefit our student-athletes.  But, what I'm most excited about is Coach Rucker's character and the infectious personality that he will bring to the office and the practice field every day."
 
Rucker is no stranger to the North Coast Athletic Conference. One of the most decorated players in league history, he was a three-sport star in football, track and field and basketball at Ohio Wesleyan University from 1989-92. Rucker totaled 14 All-American awards across both sports, the most of any student-athlete in Ohio Wesleyan history, and is a member of the NCAC's 10^th Anniversary All-Decade Team in football, indoor, and outdoor track & field. 
 
After graduating from Ohio Wesleyan in 1992 he signed as a free agent with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals. In 1994 he signed with the Cincinnati Bengals and started 28 games over the next two seasons totaling 99 tackles and four sacks. Rucker's NFL career ended in 1997 with the Washington Redskins.
 
Rucker's coaching career began in 2000 at Ohio Wesleyan where he spent one season as the defensive line coach. Since that time, he has remained in coaching at the high school and college level. He was the head coach at Mount Healthy High School in Cincinnati for three seasons. He returned to his alma mater in 2012 as the defensive line coach and the director of football operations.
 
In 2018, Rucker moved across town accepting a position on the Capital University coaching staff as the defensive line coach and the director of football operations.
 
Looking back on Rucker's career at Ohio Wesleyan stands as the most successful three-year run in that program's 120+ year history. The Battling Bishops went 25-4-1 and he was named the NCAC's Defensive Player of the Year and was a first-team All-American selection by Kodak, the Associated Press and the Football Gazette.  Rucker capped off his collegiate career by becoming the first Division III player invited to compete in the Hula Bowl Senior All-Star Game.
 
In addition to his accomplishments on the football field, Rucker's dominance as a thrower on the track and field team can't be denied. He was a four-time NCAA Division III national champion, capturing three national titles in the shot put and one in the discus.  As a senior, Rucker spent one season as a member of the men's basketball team.
 
In 2003, Rucker was inducted into the Ohio Wesleyan Athletic Hall of Fame. He holds a bachelor's degree in physical education from Ohio Wesleyan and a master's degree in athletic administration from Endicott College.  Rucker is the founder and president of Reach 4 The Sky Foundation, a non-profit foundation that provides six to 14-year-old boys and girls opportunities to build character through sport.