Last Updated on January 19, 2025 2:06 pm
Jack Groce, known more commonly as “Coach Groce”, passed away over the weekend, according to the Watauga High School Booster Club.
Coach Groce was a longtime coach, teacher, athletic director, and administrator at Appalachian High School and Watauga High School. A beloved member of the WHS family and High Country community, his many contributions & roles are included below courtesy of the 2020 WHS Hall Of Fame bulletin.
WataugaOnline.com will update when arrangement information is announced.
Some of his accolades include:
● Graduate of Wilkesboro High School
● Attended Appalachian State University to play Football
● Named one of “100 Administrators to Remember” by the NCHSAA
● Head Football Coach at Appalachian High from 1955-65
● Running Backs Coach at Appalachian State from 1966-71
● Head Football Coach at Watauga High School from 1972-76
● Served as a golf and baseball coach periodically at Appalachian High and Watauga High
● The 1962 Appalachian High Blue Devils finished the season 11-0 record and the 2-A state Region 3
championship with a 39-7 win over Murphy
● Appalachian High School teams won back-to-back state 2-A Region championships in 1961-62
● The 1962 team went undefeated
● Inducted into the North Carolina Athletic Director’s Association Hall of Fame in 1996
● Inducted into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2001
● Never experienced a losing season during 20-year career as a head football coach at Appalachian High (1955-65) and Watauga High (1972-76)
● Overall Career Record as Head Football Coach 134-22-4
● Served as athletic director and assistant principal at WHS from 1977-1990
● Watauga County athletic director (1991 -1992)
● Former president of the North Carolina Athletic Directors Association
● Served a four-year term on the NCHSAA Board of Directors
● Watauga Stadium was named Jack Groce Stadium in 1998
● Charter Member of the Appalachian State Hall of Fame Inducted in 1975
WHS ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME 2020 INDUCTEE
