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Roy Kidd, College Football Hall of Famer and coaching legend, passes away
By Keith Farner
Published:
Roy Kidd, a legendary coach on the I-AA/FCS level, has passed away, Eastern Kentucky University has announced. He was 91.
Kidd was the EKU football coach from 1964 to 2002, where he led his alma mater to a pair of national I-AA championships and 2 runner-up finishes, 16 Ohio Valley Conference titles and 314 wins. He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003. When he retired following the 2002 season, Kidd was the 6th all-time winningest coach in NCAA history.
Kidd was nationally respected throughout the coaching profession, even by his rivals. One of those was Jack Harbaugh, who coached Western Kentucky from 1989 to 2002.
“By the time Roy Kidd retired in 2002, he had made me a better football coach and left football a better game,” Harbaugh said.
Kidd left a lasting impact in the Bluegrass State.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s highest football award, given to the best high school football player in the state each season, is named the Roy Kidd Award, and the Roy Kidd OVC Coach of the Year Award is presented each season.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
