Former Norfolk State University athletics director, track and football coach William “Dick” Price passed away Monday after a lengthy illness. He was 75.

Price, a Norfolk native, was a 1957 graduate of Hampton Institute (now Hampton University). He came to NSU as head track coach and assistant football coach in 1964. He would enjoy legendary success in both sports. Price coached the Spartans to two Division II national track championships (1973 and 1974), and was named CIAA Track Coach of the Year each year from 1971-74. Those teams included such stars as eventual Olympic gold medalist Steve Riddick.

Price was elevated to head football coach in 1974 and promptly coached the Spartans to three consecutive CIAA championships from 1974-76. He was named CIAA Football Coach of the Year in 1974 and 1975. Price retired from coaching in 1983 and remains NSU’s winningest football coach with a career record of 62-41-4 (.598). Fifty-three of Price’s former football players entered the ranks of professional football.

After his retirement from coaching, Price became an associate athletics director at NSU. He was named the school’s athletics director in 1989, a post he held until 1999. The school’s current football stadium, which opened in 1997, is named in Price’s honor.

“Norfolk State has lost a true Spartan,” said NSU athletics director Marty L. Miller. “Dick was very instrumental in the success of our athletics program over several decades.  He was one of the most competitive people I’ve ever been around, but he would do anything to help you. He will truly be missed.”

Price won numerous awards for his storied career as a coach and administrator. In 1979, he was named the Virginian-Pilots “Sports Figure of the Decade.” Price is a member of the NSU Athletics Foundation Sports Hall of Fame, the CIAA Hall of Fame, the Hampton Roads African American Sports Hall of Fame, and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

Price was also a past chairman of the Hampton Roads African American Sports Hall of Fame and became the first African American president of the Norfolk Sports Club in 2003. Price received the Norfolk Sports Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.