EKU announces passing of legendary Colonel coach

RICHMOND, Ky. (WKYT/WYMT) - Legendary Kentucky football coach Roy Kidd has died. He was 91.

Eastern Kentucky University sent out a statement Tuesday morning notifying the campus community about Kidd’s passing. Kidd was moved into hospice care last week.

Kidd is EKU’s most successful head coach in the football program’s history.

EKU says Kidd joined the Colonel family as a student-athlete, then built a monumental career as head football coach at EKU from 1964 to 2002.

Kidd, a Corbin native, won two national championships as coach of the Colonels in 1979 and 1982. He also won 314 games in his career and has received Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors 10 times.

Flags are half-staffed around campus and downtown as Richmond remembers Kidd.

City leaders and former players tell us Coach Kidd helped put EKU and Richmond on the map. Developing a winning program that held true to the values and principles they instilled in the team.

City Commissioner Mike Brewer worked on the sidelines as an athletic trainer and was a childhood friend of Kidd. He says it’s an experience he’ll never forget.

“No matter where he went, he represented EKU and the city of Richmond,” said Brewer. “I don’t think you could ask for a better person to put your home, your school, out front because that’s what he did. He was such a staunch figure even through his high school career coaching. It was an awesome time to be here, growing up in this community.”

Visitation will be held on Sunday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and funeral services will be held on Monday morning at 11, both at the EKU Center for the Arts.

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