Coach Tom Kruse is Raymore-Peculiar. He grew up in Raymore and was a member of the state championship baseball team and the quarterback of the football team.
After attending Northwest Missouri State where he played quarterback as well, Kruse began his career in coaching and teaching at Harrisonville. Kruse was also an assistant at Park Hill and Park Hill South coaching football, girls’ basketball and track.
In 2000 he returned home to Ray-Pec as the head football coach. Over the next 20 seasons his teams would go 147-90 winning three straight Missouri Class 5 state titles in 2004, 2005 and 2006. During that run the Panthers also had a 28-game winning streak. His team also finished second in 2002 and had many district and conference championships.
Kruse retired after the 2019 season after leading his team to the Missouri Class 6 semifinals.
