Cobb coaching legend dies

Bruce Cobleigh, who started the Harrison High School football program in 1991 and led it to 125 wins, four region titles and a statechampionship appearance in 2000, died Monday. He was 67.

Bruce Cobleigh, who started the Harrison football program in 1991 and led it to four region titles and a state championship appearance in 2000, died on Monday. He was 67.

Cobleigh was being treated for pancreatic cancer at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. He was diagnosed July 11.

Cobleigh retired as coach after the 2007 season but kept his hand in at Harrison and later at Roswell, where he was offensive coordinator for the 2015 Class AAAAAA runner-up to Colquitt County. He was the national director of speakers for the nationally known Glazier Football Coaches Clinics.

Cobleigh and his wife, Janet, moved to Athens in April, where the coach was offensive coordinator at Prince Avenue Christian under Greg Vandagriff, whom Cobleigh befriended when the two were head coaches in Cobb County.

‘’He was always just a gentleman, a first-class guy,’’ Vandagriff said. ‘’He was a coach’s coach, a guy that provided leadership, taught you the right way.’’

Cobleigh’s record at Harrison from 1992 to 2007 was 125-58. Only McEachern’s Jimmy Dorsey had more victories in Cobb, with 219.

A Boston-area native who had made his mark in New Jersey and Florida before being hired at newly opened Harrison, Cobleigh coached 14 first-team all-state players in Georgia. His 2000 team lost to Parkview in the Class AAAAA championship game. His 2002 team, featuring Paul Oliver and Jon Abbate, was ranked No. 2 and finished 12-1. From 1995 onward, Cobleigh’s teams made 11 straight playoff appearances and had 13 straight winning seasons.

Harrison’s stadium was named in Cobleigh’s honor in 2008.