Mike Dau '58

Biography

Coach Dau, a Lake Forest College Athletic Hall of Famer, has spent 59 seasons as a member of the Forester football coaching staff and 61 with the program (2 as a player, 26 as the head coach, and 33 as an assistant). He helped Lake Forest claim conference titles while playing (1957) and serving as a head (1983) and assistant coach (2002, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2024). In 2024 Dau worked with the team's kickers and punters for the sixth consecutive year after 22 seasons as running backs coach. Under Dau's direction, Lake Forest kickers and punters have combined to average 34.3 yards per punt and make 243 extra points and 24 field goals, including a 43-yarder, in the last six season. They have also earned four All-Midwest Conference accolades. Dau coached the Forester running backs from 1997-2018. Under his direction, Joey Valdivia led the nation in scoring twice and was selected as the MWC Offensive Skill MVP and a First Team All-American by the American Football Coaches Association in 2017. Under Dau's guidance, Lake Forest backs earned 19 All-MWC honors and three MWC Offensive Player of the Year/Skill MVP awards (Al Mitchell in 2012 and Corey Honore in 1996). Dau was inducted into the Lake Forest College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977. As the head football coach from 1966-91, he posted the second-highest career victory total in team history. He guided the Foresters to a 7-2 record and a Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference title in 1983. Dau's coaching career began while he was s