S. Page Cotton ’71 MAT came to DePauw in the fall of 1969after graduating from Springfield (Mass.) College in the spring. At22, Cotton served as head coach of a three-year old program whilethe team’s first and only coach, Charlie Erdmann, was onsabbatical leave. What Cotton didn’t realize is that it wouldbe the first of 39 seasons at the helm of the soccer program.
Over the course of 39 seasons, Cotton’s DePauw teamscompiled a 390-190-33 record and he finished his career rankedninth in victories among active NCAA Division III coaches. Cottonestablished a program that didn't suffer a losing season over hisfinal 26 seasons at the helm. The Tigers made eight appearances inNCAA Division III Championship play and, during a stretch of nineseasons from 1989 through 1997, DePauw won all 54 regular seasongames in the Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference. Cottonearned the league’s coach of the year honors each year. Priorto that, the Tigers also captured three titles in theIllinois-Indiana Collegiate Soccer Conference.
His coaching career wasn’t limited to just soccer as healso served seven years as the men’s tennis coach, three asthe men’s basketball mentor and part of one for thewomen’s basketball program. He also was an assistant coachfor men’s tennis and men’s basketball.
In 1996, Cotton replaced Ted Katula as Director ofIntercollegiate Athletics and Recreational Sports and embarked on a15-plus year career in which DePauw teams won 95 conference teamchampionships including 76 in the Southern Collegiate AthleticConference. The Tigers won the SCAC President's Trophy (all-sportsaward) seven times in their 13 years in the conference includingeach of the last six. On the national level, DePauw placed in thetop 40 of the Division III Directors' Cup standings nine times inhis last 11 years with the highest finish of 13th coming in2005-06. In each of his 15 years, the Tigers finished as thehighest ranked Indiana Division III institution. During his tenure,DePauw hosted nearly 30 NCAA Division III Championship eventsincluding three national championships.
Cotton also guided the athletic department through twoconference moves as DePauw left the ICAC in 1998 to join the SCACand in 2011 the Tigers began play in the North Coast AthleticConference.
Athletic facility upgrades completed under his leadershipincluded the Lilly Center fitness center expansion, the BlackstockStadium renovations and the softball field construction, all in1997, as well as the completion of the DePauw Indoor Tennis andTrack Center in 2001.
A 2003 Indiana Soccer Hall of Fame inductee, Cotton chaired theNCAA Division III Soccer Championships committee, served on theDivision III Membership Committee and was a member of the NationalBusiness Travel Association’s Sports Travel Task Force.
Cotton also served as a professor of kinesiology and receivedthe Medora C. Adams Distinguished Professor Award in April, 2004.Upon retiring as director of athletics in 2012, he took on a newrole as Senior Adviser to President Brian W. Casey.
He and his wife, Narda, are the parents of Elizabeth and R. Page‘05.
