George Coffey, a beloved fixture in the Osceola High School athletic department for more than a quarter of a century, passed away on Tuesday in Sarasota after an extended illness. He was 66.
Services are scheduled for Dec. 11 at 11 a.m. at the school’s softball complex — named Coffey Field in his honor for the last decade or so by the school's booster club.
He served 26 seasons as the head softball Coach for the Kowboys, where he never posted a losing seasons. He is essentially credited with building OHS’ softball program, overseeing the switch from slow pitch to fast pitch and building the softball complex, which includes a memorial garden to his wife Victoria, who passed away in 2013 after a cancer fight. Players pitched in with Coffey and other coaches to build it.
Together with Roger Jones, who passed away in 2018, Coffey created and ran the Kissimmee Klassic –one of the nation’s premiere high school softball tournaments that drew ranked teams from around the state and southeast.
Under Coffey, Osceola claimed 13 Orange Belt Conference championships, nine district titles, and four regional championships. In addition to the four Final Four state appearances, his 1996 team finished second in the state. Since 2008, his teams won 20 or more games five times.
He won over 500 games, but didn’t care about his overall coaching records, said Miranda Watford, a former Kowboy player who took over as OHS coach after Coffey’s 2019 retirement.
“He cared more about the successes of his kids, even off the field in life, than his own,” she said.
After his final game in 2019 — in the playoffs, of course — he lingered to greet with players, parents and others over the years, and said the program was a tool to teach future life lessons.
“We’ve earned that reputation over the years, and that’s what I’ll be most proud of,” he said, even in the face of a season-ending defeat.
In addition to coaching, he also served a stint as the school’s Athletic Director and was active in youth sports leadership through the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club of Central Florida.
“He was an incredible man and hard worker who built our softball program from the ground up,” Osceola High Athletic Director Jim Bird said. “When something needed to get done, he was the first one to roll up his sleeves and pitch in. He touched a lot of athletes and students through the years and will be greatly missed.”
Eric Pinellas, head football coach and another Kowboy alumnus, said Coffey’s reach went well beyond the high school level.
“My athletic career when he encouraged me to sign up and play football at the Boy’s and Girl’s Club when I was eight years old. Eventually, I got into coaching and he was always there to give me advice and for that I will be eternally grateful. We lost a great man (Tuesday),” he said.
Osceola baseball coach Scott Birchler concurred. “This is an incredibly sad day for both me personally and the entire Kowboys community,” he said. “Coach Coffey has been an important part of my life since I was a kid playing youth sports. As athletic director he was the one that hired me in 1994. We coached together at Osceola for more than a decade and he was a great person to pick his brain about any subject from sports to life. He treated all the coaches and their entire families as his own. I have always felt that if I could be half the man, half the coach he was, I would be successful.”
Former Osceola Head Coach Doug Nichols said he always admired Coffey for the effort he put into Kowboys Athletics, including his time as athletic director in the 1990s.
“He did an incredible job with his team but was such a big supporter of football and all the other sports. He was a Kowboy through and through.”
Perhaps his greatest legacy was the success his former players went on to enjoy -- both in and outside of athletics. Watford served as a longtime Coffey assistant before becoming head coach. Jody Moore -- who has won 11 district titles and three state championships softball coach at Canterbury School of Florida—is a former Coffey player, as is current Tohopekaliga Coach Chantal Schuster.
“So many great memories of Coach Coffey, it’s hard to pick just one or two out. More than anything, Coach Coffey always put the individual before the athlete,” Watford said. “He always cared about the person first. His love for his players is what I will remember the most. He was certainly the main inspiration for me to become a coach. He was simply a great man.”
In addition to the services this month, Watford said she hopes to re-instate the Kowboys' alumni game, likely around a pre-season tournament she plans to host ahead of the 2022 varsity season.
