In six seasons, head coach Peter Stuursma has guided the Hope College football team to a 40-11 overall record, including a 28-4 mark in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
The Flying Dutchmen have won two MIAA titles — an outright title in 2019 and a co-championship in 2021 — and finished in second place three times during his tenure.
Hope also has won at least seven games in each of his seasons, including the second nine-win season in team history in 2019 when the Flying Dutchmen made their fifth NCAA Division III playoff appearance.
Stuursma is Hope’s seventh head football coach. He followed Dean Kreps (1995-2015), Ray Smith (1970-94), Russ DeVette (1955-69), Al Vanderbush (1946-54), Bud Hinga (1931-42) and Jack Schouten (1920-30).
Hope Athletics Feature: “Let’s Go: The Peter Stuursma Era Begins at Hope College”
A 1993 Hope graduate, Stuursma has deep ties to Hope College and the Flying Dutchmen football program.
As a player, Stuursma served as co-captain for the Hope College football team during his senior season. He was a running back and special team’s player. Stuursma received the team’s Allan C. Kinney award after the 1992 season despite playing in only three games due to an injury. The award, presented annually since 1971 and named in memory of football player Allan C. Kinney, who died of cancer in his senior year in 1967, honors a senior player for maximum contribution to the football program.
As a coach, Stuursma served as the Flying Dutchmen’s defensive coordinator during the 1999 season before becoming a teacher and head football coach at East Grand Rapids. Hope claimed a share of the MIAA title in the 1999 season with a 5-1 league record while allowing only 18.1 points per game and scoring 32.6.
Stuursma also was Hope’s recruiting coordinator that football season as well as an assistant track coach for the 1999-2000 year.
At East Grand Rapids High School, the Pioneers flourished on the field under Stuursma’s guidance. His teams went 162-34 with 13 state playoff appearances during his 16-season tenure. They claimed Michigan High School Athletic Association state titles in 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2003, and 2002. They also reached the state semifinals twice.
Stuursma was named Detroit Lions High School Coach of the Year in 2008 and High School Football Coaches Association Division 3 Football Coach of the Year in 2010, 2009 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2002. He was inducted into the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in March of 2020.
Stuursma also served as principal at East Grand Rapids Middle School from 2005 to 2016. He was assistant principal at East Grand Rapids High School from 2002 to 2004. He taught social studies and physical education for three years prior to becoming an administrator.
Stuursma graduated from Hope College in 1993, completing the secondary teacher education program, majoring in physical education and minoring in social studies. He earned a master’s degree in physical education/sports administration from the University of Northern Colorado in 1998.
In 1997, Stuursma worked as a graduate assistant on the NCAA Division II National Champion Northern Colorado football team.
Prior to his stop at Northern Colorado, Stuursma taught and coached at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central High School for three years. He was head coach of the Rangers hockey team and assistant coach for the football team.
Stuursma and his wife, Amy, also a ’93 Hope graduate, have three children: Hannah, Robbie, and Mitchell.