Tex Ritter Retiring as Football Equipment Manager
December 23, 2014 | Football
Tex Ritter, who has served as Ball State's football equipment manager for the past 29 seasons, has announced he will retire at the end of the 2014 calendar year.
“Tex has been a loyal and dedicated part of the Cardinals since the 1980's,” Ball State head football coach Pete Lembo said. “During that time span he has served hundreds and hundreds of student-athletes, as well as five different coaching staffs. In a program and a profession that is ever changing, Tex has been a constant presence that has linked generations of players, coaches, support staff and football alumni. We will miss him and wish him the very best in retirement.”
A certified athletic equipment manager and a member of the Athletic Equipment Managers Association, Ritter worked 337 football games for the Cardinals. He was part of Mid-American Conference Championship teams in 1989, 1993 and 1996 and the 2008 MAC West Division Championship squad. Ritter worked with seven teams that competed in bowl games -- the 1989 California Raisin Bowl, the 1993 and 1996 Las Vegas Bowls, the 2007 International Bowl, the 2008 GMAC Bowl, the 2012 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg and the 2013 GoDaddy Bowl.
Ritter served as the co-chairman of the AEMA National Convention in 1985 and 1987 and was named the AEMA 2007 Glenn Sharp Award winner as the equipment manager of the year. He came to Ball State in 1986 after serving from 1976-85 as the equipment manager at his alma mater, Akron.
Ritter worked with head coaches Paul Schudel, Bill Lynch, Brady Hoke, Stan Parrish and Lembo in his time at Ball State.