Dec 21, 2020 3 min read

Chad Coss, the head football coach at Waynesburg High School, died Monday.

The cause of death was not immediately known. He was 45.

Coss graduated from Waynesburg High School in 1993. He was in his third season as head coach at his alma mater and also coached football at Mapletown and West Greene.

He also was an assistant softball coach at West Greene.

“He loved that job (at Waynesburg),” said Scot Moore, athletic director at Jefferson-Morgan High School. “I remember when he got it. He was so happy.”

Coss coached under George Messich at Mapletown and the two quickly became close friends.

“Chad coached with me, and I can’t tell you how many years, but we were really close friends,” said Messich. “We had a cabin in Elk County and he would come up for trout season. We were always around each other.”

Messich said he was told Coss was having trouble breathing Monday morning and was taken to the hospital, where he collapsed and later pronounced dead.

“Chad was a lot of fun,” Messich said. “He was just a happy person. I told my wife Linda that if I had a problem and called him, he’d come over in 15 minutes. He was about as good of a first-class person as you could find.”

As a coach, Messich said Coss was tough on his players but they loved him.

“The kids knew he cared about them,” Messich said. “He wanted to see them perform at the top of their ability. He cared about the kids and wanted them all to be successful.

“The whole community is going to miss him. He was one of the nicest persons you were ever going to meet in your life.”

Coss took over at Waynesburg when Russ Moore left.

“He meant a lot to the community,” said Moore. “He was involved in so many things.”

Moore remembers how he lured Coss to Waynesburg from Maoletown. Moore needed a defensive coordinator and told Coss he didn’t anticipate a long stay at Waynesburg this time around.

“He loved that job,” Moore said. “From what I’ve been reading on Facebook and Twitter, he was a players’ coach. He was a Waynesburg kid who was coming home.”

Coss compiled a 5-23 record in his three years at Waynesburg but expectations were high for next season with much young talent ready to blossom.

“He was too young, too young,” said Moore. “Last year, it was (W&J assistant) Todd Young, a good friend of mine. It seems like it’s always the good guys. He did anything he could to make it easier on me. That was the type of guy he was.”