Jim Kretchman excelled in four careers at Northern State University from football player, football coach, and professor of health-physical education to athletics director. He began his association with Northern State’s athletic program as a player in the 1950’s. In his gridiron exploits with the Wolves, he earned Little All-American honors while playing for the legendary Coach Clark Swisher. Kretchman, a native of Faulkton, S.D. at one time held the NSU football records for rushing in a game (242) and for a career (4,121) before having them broken in the late 1990’s.
Kretchman earned his bachelor’s degree in 1956 and a master’s degree in 1958 from NSU. He gained high school coaching experience at Leola, Webster and Aberdeen Central High Schools. He added collegiate experience as a graduate assistant at NSU (1957-58) and the University of Wyoming. Kretchman received a doctoral degree from the University of Wyoming in 1967 and that same year accepted a position as an assistant coach in football, wrestling and track at Northern State. He inherited the head football job at Northern State in 1968 from Swisher, his former coach. Kretchman guided the Wolves to a perfect record in his rookie season and his football team went on to win 67 games in his 12-year coaching career, which was third most all-time at NSU.
NSU has honored his playing and coaching abilities by naming him to the NSU athletic hall of fame in 1976 and the alumni coach of the year in 1986. Kretchman moved from the football field to the office in 1980 when he was named Swisher’s successor as NSU athletic director. He added another honor to his list of accomplishments when he was inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in the spring of 1993. Kretchman stepped down as athletic director at NSU in 1999 after nearly twenty years at the helm. Jim and his wife, Bonnie, have three children, Jeff, Amy, and Jill.