Rick Emmitt

Rick Emmitt is in his 11th season as the head coach of the Drury bass fishing team in the 2026/27 season. Emmitt was brought on board when Drury launched bass fishing as one of four non-NCAA sports in the Spring of 2015.

In 2025/26, Emmitt led the team to a national ranking of twelfth.  The team placed three teams in the top 10 in the Bassmaster Lunkers Series for the season and qualified 3 teams for the Bassmaster College National Championship.  They also qualified 3 teams for the Major League Fishing National Championship and five teams for the ACA National Championship.
 

Emmitt has guided the Drury fishing team to become one of the top collegiate programs in the country. In the last seven seasons, the Panthers have finished in the top 15 in the ACA Bass Pro Shops School of the Year national rankings. In 2021, the Panthers won the Major League Fishing Collegiate Series National Championship.  Overall, they have 8 collegiate wins in 8 full seasons.

Emmitt has more than 37 years of experience in the fishing industry and retired from Bass Pro Shops/WRMG in 2021. He managed their pro fishing teams for nearly 15 years. One of the country’s pre-eminent experts on bass fishing, Emmitt is co-host of KY3 fishing tips broadcast weekly in the spring/summer months on the 6 and 10 o’clock sports segments. He also appears on countless podcasts and radio shows. Among his many accolades, Emmitt was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in February 2021 for his contributions to bass fishing.