High school football community mourns Marion County coach
Marion County head football coach Rob Reader died early Thursday after a monthslong bout with liver cancer. He was 50 years old.
“Our hearts are heavy today as we share in the sadness of the passing of MCHS Football Coach Rob Reader,” a Twitter post from Marion County Schools said Thursday morning. “Our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and his players. We should all hope to live a life as meaningful and impactful as Coach Reader.”
Reader continued to work with the Knights this summer, but was limited in what he could do over the last few weeks, Marion County Athletic Director Michael Holt told the Courier-Journal. Reader promised his team he would be on the sideline for their season opener last Friday, and he made the game, Holt said.
“What a good man,” said Mercer County Coach David Buchanan, who is also president of the Kentucky Football Coaches Association. “It’s overwhelming. ... Rob Reader was a special one.”
Reader had success in his two seasons at Moore in Louisville, leading the Mustangs to an 11-2 record and the regional finals in 2018 before taking the Marion County job. He was 4-11 in two years at Marion where the team had its season cut dramatically short by COVID-19 in 2020.
Condolences poured out on social media to the Louisville native who spent much of his career as an assistant coach in the Louisville area.
“Coach Rob Reader served as our special teams coordinator and assistant coach from 2009-2015. In that time, our football program was never better,” read a post on Twitter from Pleasure Ridge Park Athletics. “(In) 2012 we made a run to the state finals. We would never have done those great things without Coach Reader.”
“Prayers going out to the family of Rob Reader. And all the Marion County Football Family. R.I.P. my brother,” tweeted Pulaski County football coach John Hines.
“Coach was the guiding light as we turned around the football program here at Moore,” Moore Athletics posted on Twitter. “He was as great of a man as you would ever meet. We love you Rob! Forever a Mustang; until we meet again my friend.”
Reader’s death comes a day after the loss of another coach in the high school football community. Greenup County assistant Jamie Kennedy died from COVID-19 complications.
“Over the past two days, the KHSAA football coaching community lost two beloved individuals. We send our condolences to the families of Greenup County Assistant Coach Jamie Kennedy and Marion County Head Coach Rob Reader,” a Twitter post from the Kentucky High School Athletic Association read. “Tough times only get tougher with this news. Our thoughts are with each community as they mourn the passing of these leaders. Their impact on the many student-athletes and colleagues around them will not be forgotten.”
