Knightly News

Mud, sod, sweat and hard work were a big part of 1977 graduate Rob Rieger’s senior year. When the school year kicked off, the Episcopal Knights had no home football field. Rieger and his teammates toiled in the hot summer sun for days to change that. (Now that’s making a difference in your community!)

Establishing the home field

“The school plant was so small back then,” says Rieger, noting the site for future Memorial Field was a dumping ground for construction debris at the time. However, school administrators had a vision for a home field where the rebar, lumber, nails and even old appliances lay. Rieger and teammates were happy to help by laying the sod that would eventually host the Knights. Rieger remembers grabbing one or two pieces of sod and walking them out onto the dirt for the “better part of several weeks. The site was still being graded and contoured while we were installing the sod. We had to get the sod down by a certain date so it would take to be ready,” he says. Setting the sod was just a first down in what would be a long drive.

“We were still making preparations the week of,” says Rieger regarding the deadline to be ready for the first home contest. One day Rieger was called out of class and instructed to follow a man out to the field. The man was a foreman with Tiger Fence, and Rieger and several teammates were recruited to help him install a fence to enclose the field. Something else was missing – goalposts. Rieger remembers a welder appearing after practice and with player assistance “fabricated and erected goalposts on the spot.” Stands were still being assembled the day before kickoff. After many long days and nights of preparation, when the whistle blew on game day, the Knights had a field to call their own. That first home game was versus Live Oak High School. Coincidentally, the Knights were the Eagles’ first opponent on their new field the previous year. “We played hard but, did not win,” says Rieger. Regardless of the outcome, it’s a feeling he will never forget. “There was an adrenaline rush to be the first team to play on that field,” he says.

Rieger has always been passionate about football. As a Knight, he and his squad played both sides of the ball, and it was physical. “We were in the trenches all game long,” he says. “We fought in every game until the bitter end.” He says some of those early teams weren’t especially successful. “We were everybody’s Homecoming opponent,” he says with a laugh. Despite that, there is pride for having been a Knight and nostalgia for being a part of the crew that established the Episcopal home turf.

A home away from home for the Riegers

Episcopal is a second home for Rieger and his family. They were a St. James family, and his four sisters, multiple cousins, and eventually two of Rieger’s children attended Episcopal. “Father Webster and Mrs. Webster were part of our family,” says Rieger. The same was true of his teammates and classmates, many of whom he remains in contact with even now. As Episcopal parents, he and his wife, Shannan, were the Squires Club President Family, and Shannan served as a Football Class Mom for their son Dan ‘15’s high school teams.

All these years later, you can still find Rieger at Memorial Field on Friday nights in the fall. While no longer wearing the team’s number 50, he’s still a part of the experience. Since the mid-2000s, he has been the voice of the Knights, calling games and revving up the crowd. “It’s a ministry I guess,” he reflects. “I want to give back to the school that invested in me.” With quick recollection, Rieger recalls highlights and scores from some of the most memorable games he has announced. He hopes to continue serving as PA announcer as long as athletic officials will have him. While he has seen a lot during his time with the Knights, there’s one thing he’s hopeful for. “I’d love to see Episcopal win a football championship,” he says. He also hopes to one day watch his grandson play football on Memorial Field. However, Rhodes is not quite two years old, so it will be some time before that happens.

The Rieger family has a long legacy with Episcopal.

Happy Homecoming 2022!

For Rieger, Episcopal is so much more than an education. He appreciates the learning opportunities that made the school the ideal fit for his children. He’ll never forget the long hours of his youth spent preparing the campus for athletics or the bonds of brotherhood that formed while doing battle together each week. “I owe a lot to the school,” he says with gratitude. “What pleases me the most is the number of Alumni who choose to send their children to Episcopal, validating the enduring vision of the school’s founders. That vision drove sustained student growth and created a beautiful campus, with exceptional faculty and staff.” Episcopal athletics is grateful to Rieger for his decades of support. Thank you, and happy Homecoming 2022!

Read more about Rieger’s son 1st Lt. Dan Rieger ’15 in a previous Alumni Spotlight here.

Rieger discusses Knights football with Head Coach Travis Bourgeois.

Rieger and teammates Joe Clark '78, Richard Dunham '78 and Neal Clark '79 celebrate Joe's Hall of Fame induction.

The Episcopal School of Baton Rouge 2024-2025 application is now available! ​For more information on the application process, to schedule a tour, or learn more about the private school, contact us at [email protected] or 225-755-2685.