Your future, our focus
POWELL, Wyo. - The cowboy who rode into the sunset is on his way back. In January, longtime Northwest College rodeo coach Del Nose will once again head up NWC’s Rodeo Team.
From 1998-2010, Nose drove the team to some of its best college national finals finishes before he decided to leave the rodeo life to manage a ranch in Montana. Nose discovered, however, that you can take the cowboy out of the rodeo, but you can’t take the rodeo out of the cowboy, so he applied for the coaching position when it opened last month.
“I’m thrilled to be back,” Nose said. “I’m looking forward to doing some recruiting and making it to the national finals with some quality team members.”
Nose returns to an expanded position that also includes fundraising, barn, facilities and livestock management, event coordination and other duties.
The barn and facilities Nose will manage is the former Heart Mountain Equestrian Center, located on Highway 14A between Powell and Cody. The college made arrangements to purchase the facility in November after leasing it for several years.
Nose was selected for the position through a national search.
In addition to his experience as head coach and assistant coach at Northwest, Nose was also the Big Sky Region faculty director for the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) from 2000-10. He’s been a pro judge for the Professional Rodeo Association since 1979, and from 2002-10, he was a Dodge Rodeo representative.
Named the NIRA Big Sky Region Coach of the Year in 2010, Nose was inducted into the Montana Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2008 and earned his Professional Rodeo Cowboys Gold Card in 1994.
As a student, Nose competed for the Northwest College and Montana State University-Bozeman rodeo teams before earning the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Championship in 1976.
Even though he’s been away from the Northwest College Rodeo Program for two years, Nose hasn’t been completely out of touch. His wife, Becky, stepped in as interim coach this fall to keep the team on track.
“She’s done a great job,” Nose said. “It’s good to know I’m coming back to a first-rate program that’s been well managed. I appreciate all Becky’s done, and I know the college does too.”