Dean Kreps' 109 career wins are second in the program's history behind the 148 compiled by Ray Smith from 197-94. Hope has had just six head football coaches in the past 94 seasons. Hope athletics photo

Dean Kreps has stepped down from the Hope football program after 30 seasons, including the past 21 as head coach. Kreps will continue to work as an associate professor of kinesiology at the school through the end of the 2015-16 academic year.

The search for a new head coach will begin immediately.

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“The Hope College community is grateful to Coach Kreps for his dedication to our student-athletes and his stewardship of our football program,” Hope president John C. Knapp said.

“Intercollegiate football has been part of Hope’s athletic heritage for more than a century,” Knapp added. “We look forward to continuing this tradition under new leadership.”

Kreps became Hope’s sixth full-time head coach after Ray Smith stepped down following the 1994 season. His overall record with the Flying Dutchmen was 109-97, including an 83-42 mark in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association games that resulted in league championships in 2007, 2006, 2003, 2000, 1999 and 1997.

Kreps spent his first nine seasons as an assistant coach for the Flying Dutchmen. He was Smith’s defensive coordinator from 1991 to 1994.

Kreps has been a member of the Hope faculty since 1986.