Florida Tech’s Bill Jurgens to Be Inducted into Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame

Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame 2013 inductee

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA — Florida Tech legendary Athletic Director and Rowing Coach, Bill Jurgens, has been named to the 2025 Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame class, as announced by the league office.

Jurgens will be formally inducted alongside nine other honorees during the SSC Hall of Fame Brunch and Celebration on Saturday, October 4, at Barry University in Miami Shores.

Jurgens’ remarkable career at Florida Tech spanned more than four decades, where he served as Athletic Director from 1976 to 2020. Under his leadership, Panther Athletics experienced tremendous growth and national success.

He was also the first rowing coach in Florida Tech history, launching the program in 1969 and laying the foundation for what would become one of the most successful collegiate rowing programs in the region.

Throughout his coaching and administrative tenure, Jurgens led the Panthers to five national championships, 35 Sunshine State Conference titles, and seven SSC individual championships. His rowing crews claimed 20 Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships, 27 Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association titles, and 17 Dad Vail Regatta victories.

Jurgens’ influence extended well beyond Florida Tech. He served on the U.S. Rowing Association Board of Directors (1976-87) and the U.S. Olympic Rowing Committee (1977-80), and he has been a longstanding member of the Dad Vail Rowing Association Board of Directors since 1990.

A true pioneer in collegiate rowing, Jurgens was a member of the first NCAA Women’s Rowing Championship Committee (1996-99) and chaired the NCAA Division II Women’s Rowing Committee from 2004 to 2006.

His contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including induction into the Florida Tech Sports Hall of Fame, Jacksonville University Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

He received U.S. Rowing’s prestigious Jack Kelly Award in 2016 and was the recipient of the Visionary Award from the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2025, he received the Golden Eagle Award from the Central Florida Council of Scouting America.

Jurgens currently holds the title of Athletic Director Emeritus at Florida Tech.

The Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame was established in 1991 to honor individuals who have brought distinction, honor, and excellence to the league. The 2025 class marks the 25th Hall of Fame induction, bringing the total number of inductees to 223.

Tickets are available for the SSC Hall of Fame Brunch and Celebration on October 4th in Miami Shores. Event space is limited, and you must purchase no later than Friday, September 19.

If you are interested in celebrating the SSC’s 25th Hall of Fame Class, email Maryanne Simkulak, Sunshine State Conference Senior Associate Commissioner, for more information.

For the complete Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame, CLICK HERE.

WATCH: Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame’s Bill Jurgens Champion of Florida Tech For Six Decades

ABOVE VIDEO: The FIT athletic department has expanded under Bill Jurgens’ watch to include 22 sports and hundreds of student-athletes. The Panthers’ first-ever college football team will debut in the fall. As Florida Tech’s number and variety of sports teams has grown over the years, interacting and building relationships with the student-athletes has taken on added significance for Jurgens. “I always give them advice. They may not ask, but I give it to them,” he said. “I try to set myself in a position to help people.”

• Dedicated Steward of FIT Athletics, Member of FIT & JU Hall of Fame , Championship Rowing Coach

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – The long association of Bill Jurgens and athletics at Florida Institute of Technology may best be remembered for a career spanning 44 years and counting, but that would overlook his storied success as a coach, administrator and a role model for generations of students.

A resident of Melbourne since he was in third grade, Jurgens never dreamed growing up that he would one day lead a college athletic program or champion Florida Tech’s fortunes on and off the playing field for nearly six decades.

It has earned him induction into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame as the 2013 Sports Visionary Award recipient.

A 1964 graduate of Melbourne High School, Jurgens attended Jacksonville University and majored in biology. He also competed in rowing for four years and became captain of the school’s team as a senior.

After graduation, Jurgens took a job at Arlington Junior High School in Jacksonville to teach biology. Within a week his principal moved him to physical education where he also served as JV basketball coach and assistant track coach.

At the end of the year, he received a grant to attend the University of Florida to teach biology to students of diverse backgrounds. He returned to Melbourne in the fall of 1969 and was hired by Florida Tech on a part-time basis to coach the rowing team. At the same time, the principal at Eau Gallie Junior High School was impressed by Bill’s work with diverse students at UF and hired him to teach special needs students.

GUIDING & STEADYING FORCE

As Florida Tech rowing coach, the team won its first five races and even defeated arch-rival Rollins College. By the following fall, Jurgens became a full-time coach at Florida Tech. In 1976 he became the school’s athletic director.

He applied for the position because, as he put it, “I wanted a broad-based program. It never occurred to me that having many teams means more work. I thought our athletes could benefit from a positive spirit and not get caught up in what we didn’t have. My goal was to help all of our sports succeed.”

Besides fulfilling his duties as athletic director, Bill continued to coach Florida Tech rowers. Serving 20 years as the team’s coach, he led the squad to the state title in 1974, and in 1975 FIT claimed its first national championship.

In all, Jurgens led the Panthers to 20 NCAA team and individual titles until stepping down in 1988. With his coaching days behind him, Jurgens poured his heart and soul into developing a level of excellence for the athletic department. FIT programs flourished with the men’s soccer team winning NCAA Division II championships in 1988 and again in 1991.

“Vince Lombardi is often misquoted about saying ‘winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,’ when what he really said was, ‘winning isn’t everything. The will to win is the only thing,’” Jurgens said.

“I consider success to be when you have people who don’t worry about a loss, but keep the desire to win.”

As Florida Tech’s number and variety of sports teams has grown over the years, interacting and building relationships with the student-athletes has taken on added significance for Jurgens. “I always give them advice. They may not ask, but I give it to them,” he said. “I try to set myself in a position to help people.”

MENTOR TO GENERATIONS OF ATHLETES

Jurgens encourages FIT athletes to get involved in the community in service-oriented endeavors and programs, such as working with handicapped children or volunteering in a food pantry.

The FIT athletic department has expanded under his watch to include 22 sports and hundreds of student-athletes. The Panthers’ first-ever college football team will debut in the fall.

“I know I’ve done my job when I see them graduate and they see what they’ve become. They see what they achieved and they are more prepared and more successful and more able to deal with the ups and downs,” Jurgens said.

“It impresses me that we create that environment and I’m confident in the product that we have and nothing prevents us from being the best we could be.”

Jurgens, who is a member of the Florida Tech Sports Hall of Fame and the Jacksonville University Athletic Hall of Fame, has indeed been the right man for the job at Florida Tech, and his vision for athletics at the school has created a model program that others try to emulate.

FOR INFORMATION about the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame call 321-615-8111 or e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

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