Greensboro, NC - Greensboro College, and the entire Guilford County Community, has lost a pioneer of local football, with the announcement of the passing of legendary coach Marion Kirby at the age of 80.  Kirby is well known on College Hill as he was hired by Athletic Director Kim Strable to build the Pride Football program from scratch in 1996.  In his five years at the Greensboro College helm, Coach Kirby built a program from a first year record of 0-10 to two back-to-back 5-5 seasons in his fourth and fifth years, with his biggest win coming on 10/20/01 against Averett, 49-19.  

"As our first ever football coach, he extended his legacy beyond the high school level and was tasked with building our program from scratch", said Strable.  "We had 119 student-athletes on the practice field on Day #1, 99 of whom were freshmen as I recall.  As Kirb use to always say, when we launched football, GC didn't even own a kicking tee.  He was a gregarious and friendly coach who loved to spin a yarn and also loved laughing through his own stories.  He was a master story teller and always used past experiences as illustrations.  Coach Kirby is beloved by many in this community and will always be a legend".  

Before he took the GC job, Kirby had made his mark as Greensboro's most successful high school football coach of all-time. His record at Page was 219-51-5, including four state 4-A championships, 18 playoff berths, 14 conference titles and state records of 50 straight regular-season wins and a 46-game unbeaten streak.  In addition, he was elected to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2000.  

A memorial service will be held next Tuesday, June 27 at 3:30PM at Lawndale Baptist Church in Greensboro.  Immediately after the memorial service all are invited to gather at the Marion Kirby Football Stadium at Page High School in Greensboro.

The Greensboro College Community would like to offer their condolences to Coach Kirby's family.  The Pride will always be thankful for his tireless work in putting Greensboro College Football on the map, which has paved the way for Student-Athletes and Coaches to carry on his vision for Pride Football.