Famous Ohio Hall of Fame Coach passes away - RIP Augie Bossu

[Old Tom Morris]

Legendary Benedictine High School football coach Augie Bossu dies at age 91
By Bob Fortuna
Plain Dealer Reporter

Augie Bossu roamed the sidelines at Benedictine High School for five decades, leading the Bengals to three state football championships and an Associated Press crown. He died overnight at age 91. Services are pending.

Bossu, who lived in Maple Heights, was Ohio's winningest high school football coach when he stepped down on March 1, 1994. His 310-130-20 record includes a 33-18-3 mark compiled while he was head coach at Cathedral Latin from 1947-52 and a 2-3-2 record in one season at Mineola (N.Y.) Chaminade in 1940. His 310 wins currently rank fifth in state history.

Bossu's run at Benedictine began in 1955, two seasons after becoming an assistant football coach under the late Joe Rufus. Bossu gave up his head coaching position at Cathedral Latin for the Bengals' assistant coaching job because he saw it as an opportunity to be part of a great program under a great coach in Rufus.

Bossu led the Bengals to 14 City Championship game appearances. Benedictine won nine of those crowns and tied twice. His Bengals claimed 13 consecutive postseason games from 1965 to 1981 and finished with an overall postseason mark of 21-8-1.

His 1957 team went 10-0 and was voted state champions by the Associated Press. Once the computer system began in 1972 to pick teams for a playoff, he guided the Bengals to a Class AA state crown in 1973 with a 12-2 record, and went a combined 24-1-1 during the 1980 and 1981 seasons to win consecutive Division III titles.

The Bengals' 1981 state championship team posted a 13-0 record, one of three unbeaten and untied seasons during the Bossu era.

"It stops and ends with Augie Bossu," Carl Barile said in a 2002 interview. Barile starred in football, basketball and baseball for Benedictine in the early 1970s. "He taught me discipline, how to compete but respect the competition, and what the word 'team' means.

"Augie could have made a lot of money coaching big-time college football, maybe even in the pros, but money wasn't important to him. He just enjoyed coaching and watching what his students, whether they were students in the classroom or students on the field, do with their life after leaving Benedictine."

Bossu's achievements on the baseball field were also phenomenal.

He racked up a 681-300 record as Benedictine won 13 East Senate championships. His teams also won 23 sectional titles, 11 district crowns and made five trips to the state tournament final four.

After stepping down as varsity football coach, Bossu remained on the staff as the school's freshman football coach through the 2005 season. He also scouted football opponents for the varsity team. In the summer of 2006, he decided to take a break to take care of some physical health issues and did not return. He continued attending local Bengals varsity games, including the recent 2007 season. He gave up his position as junior varsity baseball coach after the 2001 season.

Mike Easler, a former Bengals baseball standout who had a .293 batting average in 14 Major League seasons, said Bossu was the best instructor he had on any level.

"He coached you like you were a professional, but treated you like you were his son," Easler said.

Bossu is a member of the Monongahela (Pa.) High School Sports Hall of Fame, the Benedictine Athletic Hall of Fame, the Ohio High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame and Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.

However, his highest compliment came in 1988 when he was inducted into the National High School Sports Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Mo.

Bossu played guard for Notre Dame's football team under coach Elmer Layden before graduating in 1939.

During World War II, Bossu served in the Army Signal Corps and earned the rank of major, before returning to school and getting a master's degree in physical education from Stanford.

Art Bortnick was one of Bossu's assistant football coaches for 10 seasons and later became Benedictine's head football coach in 1999, a position he still holds.

"I try to instill some of Augie's coaching philosophies," Bortnick said. "Augie always made sure his players understood the system and their roles.

"He kept things simple because he was guarded in giving the players too much to learn because he didn't want to make it too complex for them. He was a fundamentalist and stressed execution."

Bossu's was also influential in the classroom, where he taught English and physical education.

Auxiliary Bishop Roger Gries played for Bossu and later became principal at Benedictine. Gries, in a 2002 interview, credited Bossu for his path into the priesthood.

"Augie's devout faith was an inspiration to me," Gries said.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: bfortuna@plaind.com, 216-999-4665