Coach Dirk Wedd began his distinguished high school coaching career after 10 seasons of college coaching at Pratt Community College and Wichita State. At Wichita State Coach Wedd served under the NCAA’s first African American Head Coach at the D1 level. Coach Wedd served as an assistant coach from 1990-1998 before taking over as the head coach at his alma mater, Lawrence High School in 1999. Coach Wedd has the distinction of being the only person to have received Wichita Capital/Eagle Top 11 as a player and a coach. Before retiring as the longest tenured head coach at Lawrence High in 2018, Coach Wedd’s teams won 104 games.
Legendary Hall of Fame Coach Dick Purdy recognized an often-overlooked achievement of Coach Wedd, “The toughest job many high school coaches face is keeping a high level of
success following a school district splitting of a high school. Dirk did a great job of not letting that happen, regularly getting his teams into the playoffs.”
Coach Wedd was the recipient of the Dave Bassore Man of the Year Award and the Simone Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.
His Lawrence squads were 3-time Sunflower League champions making the playoffs 13 times. They recorded an undefeated regular season in 2015 which also garnered him Coach of the Year honors.
Despite all the honors and victories, Bill DeWitt, who served as Coach Wedd’s athletic director, believed, “It was his character that defined his greatness. Dirk has always treated his players, assistant coaches and opponents with great respect. Whenever former players return to campus, they immediately want to visit Coach Wedd, the man who influenced hundreds of these young men who have grown up to be coaches, teachers, police officers and fathers capable of accomplishing things they would not have considered without Dirk’s support and guidance.”
Coach Wedd is a multiple time All-Star coach for both the Shriners and the GKCFCA and currently serves as the Director of High School Relations on the University of Kansas Football staff.
