Phil Trautner

Pierre, S.D. -- Football, Basketball

Like many young men of his generation, Phil Trautner came to Sioux Falls College by way of the United States Navy.  A World War II veteran, Phil enlisted in 1944 and served in the South Pacific for two years.  In the fall of 1947, he enrolled at SFC and played football and basketball for the Braves.  Phil transferred to the University of Minnesota where he completed his bachelor’s degree in 1951.  He obtained a master’s degree in 1959.  A South Dakota coaching legend, Phil’s infectious enthusiasm for sports and life impacted thousands of high school athletes in the Pierre Public School System from 1951-2002 (51 years).  He was Pierre’s athletic director from 1953-1986 (33 years).  Phil served as the head boys’ track coach and the head football coach for twelve seasons (1953-1965).  He also served as the head boys’ basketball coach for six seasons (1954-1960).  Phil’s teams always had winning records:  football, 72-24-2; and basketball 82-38.  In 1965 Phil started the boys’ tennis program, and he continued to coach the team through the 2002 season even though he retired from teaching at the end of the 1989-90 school year.  Phil’s tennis teams compiled an impressive 361 wins and 61 losses in dual competition, and they earned 10 E.S.D. titles, four state titles, and three state runner-up titles.  Phil was named the South Dakota Tennis Coach of the Year in 1976, 1980, 1984, 1986, and 1990, and he was honored as the National High School Tennis Coach of the Year from Region 6 in 1976, 1980, and 1991.  In 1992 Phil was inducted into the South Dakota Tennis Hall of Fame.  He is also a member of the Athletic Directors Hall of Fame (1986), the South Dakota High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1987), the Pierre Athletic Hall of Fame (1987), the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2003), the South Dakota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Hall of Fame (2004), and the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame (2004).  Phil passed away in August 2003.  All those who were fortunate to have Phil as a teacher, coach, and friend are better for having known him. Trautner was inducted posthumously.

Family: Wife- Joan