HAMILTON, N.Y. – Colgate University athletic director Mark Murphy has announced that head football coach Dick Biddle has been named the 2003 Howard Hartman Award winner as the University’s Coach of the Year.  He is the first three-time winner of this prestigious award.

The award was established in memory of Howard N. Hartman, who was head basketball coach at Colgate between 1949-62 and also served as an assistant with the football, baseball and lacrosse programs.  The honor is awarded annually to the Colgate coach who best represents the leadership, spirit, discipline and determination that Hartman exemplified.

This past fall, Biddle led the Raiders to a 9-3 record and a share of the Patriot League title.  En route his team became the fifth squad in school history to win nine or more games in a season with two of those teams coming under his tutelage.

Over his seven seasons as head coach, Biddle has achieved the best winning percentage (.675) of any Colgate coach with six or more years at the helm.  He has reached the 54-win plateau; the second fastest of any coach in Colgate’s gridiron history.

Colgate’s ride to the top under Biddle has seen seven straight winning seasons, a share of three Patriot League titles and three NCAA Division I-AA playoff appearances.

Biddle previously won the Howard Hartman Award in 1997 and 1998.  He will receive his award at the University’s Awards Convocation on April 29 at the Colgate chapel.