Ripley started the University of Mary’s men’s program in 1995 and directed the squad to the playoffs the first two seasons the team existed. His work as a ground-water hydrologist conflicted with his coaching duties and he reluctantly stepped down after the 1996 campaign. Ripley would return to the Marauders bench in 2008 as an assistant coach, when Coach Dave Cook asked him to assist him when Coach Cook became the head coach.
Ripley's origins in soccer began in 1965 when, as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana, West Africa, he played on a local town team. Later he started several of the Bismarck-area soccer programs in the 1970s, 1980s, and the 1990s. Through the 1980s and the 1990s Dave was active in several aspects of the North Dakota Youth Soccer Association, heading up the Olympic Development programs (boys and girls) and serving as the State Director of Referee Assessment and state treasurer.
A graduate of the University of Illinois in Urbana with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology (1965), Ripley earned a Master's degree in Ground-water Hydrology from the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle in 1972. Among a select few to serve both in the military (U. S. Army) and the U. S. Peace Corps, Ripley holds a "D" coaching license.
