Wheaton, Ill. - As announced earlier this summer, Wheaton College and the Wheaton Athletics department will honor longtime football coach Mike Swider on September 4 in conjunction with the season-opening football game for the Thunder. As part of the celebration of Swider's career he will be inducted into the Wheaton Athletics Hall of Honor.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The remaining members of the 2021 Wheaton Athletics Hall of Honor class will be announced later this month. The 2021 Hall of Honor class and 2020 Hall of Honor Class will each be inducted at the traditional time on the Saturday of Homecoming.

Swider will be honored and recognized at halftime of the September 4 game against University of Northwestern (MInn.). All are invited to this event to honor Swider. Additionally, there will be a come-and-go reception for Coach Swider following the game in the South Beamer Center Plaza.

Coach Swider announced his retirement as Wheaton's head football coach on December 10, 2019. A 1977 graduate of Wheaton, Swider was involved in Wheaton College football for 39 seasons, beginning with four years as a student-athlete on the football team (1973-76). He returned to Wheaton as defensive coordinator, serving in that role for 11 seasons from 1985-95. He served as head coach for 24 seasons (1996-2019) and is the winningest head football coach in program history.
 
In 24 seasons as Wheaton's head coach, Swider earned 209 career wins, a mark that ranks 35th among NCAA head football coaches all-time at any level. His 209-52 career record gives Swider a career winning percentage of 80.1-percent that ranks 14th all-time in Division III history.  Wheaton appeared in the NCAA Division III Playoffs 10 times in Swider's 24 seasons as head coach. The program accumulated a 15-10 postseason record in that time, with one Semifinal appearance (2008) and four Quarterfinal games (2003, 2008, 20016 and 2019). He guided Wheaton to a pair of 12-win seasons (2003 and 2019) establishing school single-season records for victories in both of those campaigns.