Beloved former Lehigh football coach dies
Coen retired in 2018 when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s
Andy Coen, one of the most successful and beloved coaches in Lehigh University football history, died Friday night at the age of 57.
Ed Shupp, Coen’s close friend and the former chief of the Lehigh University police department, confirmed the news after hearing from another of Coen’s close friends, Bob Lewis, a Gettysburg College teammate of Coen’s who was with the family.
Coen had been battling early-onset Alzheimer’s and was living in a memory care facility. Alzheimer’s was what forced him to retire from coaching at the end of the 2018 season after a 13-year stint that included 85 victories and five league titles.
The Cherry Hill, New Jersey, native tied Bill Leckonby for the most wins in program history, getting a 34-3 victory over Lafayette in his last game to end the 2018 season.
Coen was inducted into the National Football Foundation Lehigh Valley Chapter’s Hall of Fame in 2019 and he also assisted the Allentown Central Catholic program on a part-time basis in 2019.
At a fundraiser for the Coen family on the Lehigh campus in February, an event organized by Lewis and Shupp, nearly 250 former players, teammates, coaches, and friends of Coen were there to offer their support.
Among them was former Lehigh coach and current Wake Forest assistant Kevin Higgins, along with current Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson. Coen and Clawson worked together on Higgins’ staff in the 1990s.
Barry Streeter, who coached Coen at Gettysburg, was also there, as was current Bucknell coach Dave Cecchini and Lehigh coach Tom Gilmore.
“The one thing about Andy that I want everybody to take away from tonight is that Andy is a great
friend,” Higgins said. “This whole night is a testimony to how much love there is for Andy. I also want to tell Nolan and Finn, Andy’s sons, that your dad is a great dad who always talked about you guys. He loved you and just know you guys have a special man.”
Lehigh athletic director Joe Sterrett also attended the event and said: “It’s a very sad and tragic circumstance that brought us together, but at the same time, it’s the celebration of a special man and family,” he said. “It’s very affirming that what we do in athletics has meaning and value that far transcends the games that we play. Andy understood that. He understood the value of other people and relationships.”
Coen’s wife, Laura, was moved by the special event that helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to help defray the family’s medical expenses.
“Andy believed in building relationships and trust,” she said. “He trusted his players and his players trusted him, and that’s why he was so successful. It has been great to see how much he means to so many others because he means everything to us. I just know that I love him and will always stand by him.”
Shupp said no funeral arrangements had been finalized, but expected services to be held in the coming week.