2024 Quincy Notre Dame Hall of Fame inductee: Rick Day

Editor’s Note: Quincy Notre Dame will hold its Hall of Fame induction ceremony at approximately 6:30 p.m. Saturday between games of the 2024 QND Tip-Off Tourney at The Pit. Below is the biography used by the QND Hall of Fame committee to honor one of this year’s inductees.

QUINCY — When Bill Connell became the head football coach at Quincy Notre Dame in 1992, he assembled a staff with coaches who shared his vision for employing hard-nosed, hard-hitting, aggressive defense. Rick Day epitomized that to a “T.”

Day joined Connell’s staff in 1994 and spent more than two decades as the defensive line coach and defensive coordinator, turning the Raiders into one of the stingiest program’s around.

No game epitomized Day’s influence on an outcome more than the Class 4A state quarterfinal playoff game in 2004 when the Raiders beat top-ranked Mahomet-Seymour 14-10. The Raiders sacked Bulldogs quarterback Bodie Reeder three times, hit him four others and limited him to 44 yards passing.

Mahomet-Seymour came into that game averaging 40.8 points per game, but managed just 10 points and 78 yards of total offense.

Day’s commitment to the QND program — he worked a full-time job and coached on his free time — helped bring stability to a program that saw Day, Brent Fischer, John Wyss, Joe Obert, John Lavery, Chad Duesterhaus, Cory Duesterhaus and others serve on the coaching staff for 10 or more years each.