Even in retirement, Bill Zwaan's legacy at West Chester University lives on
WEST CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) -- For 21 years, West Chester University head football coach Bill Zwaan has had an impact on and off the field. With a total of 216 wins, he's an NCAA Division II all-time winningest active head coach.
Zwaan announced his retirement in November but said he's staying on through Christmas to continue a family tradition of being Santa to the West Chester University Promise Program.
"The Promise Program takes care of kids who don't have homes and necessarily don't have families to spend the holidays with," Zwaan said. "My family and I started this six years ago when we found out we had homeless kids on campus, which I was really surprised."
Zwaan told CBS Philadelphia that he comes from a family of 10 brothers and sisters. Every year, they would have a theme where they would exchange holiday gifts for Christmas. One year, they decided to give presents to eight students in need.
Now, six years later, more than 50 students benefit from the program.
The Promise Program eventually turned into a community and all-out-campus initiative. It supports the university's most vulnerable students with access to housing, food and scholarship funds.
Zwaan said although he's accomplished a great deal of achievements on the football field, the Promise Program is one of his career highlights.
"They are incredible young men and women," Zwaan said. "They have jobs, they just don't have families to support them. They need the support from us."
