After spending the past 36 years patrolling the

sidelines at Radford High School, head football coach Norm Lineburg announced

Monday evening that he would be retiring at the end of this season.

The

legendary coach, who first started his career in 1959 as an assistant at Andrew

Lewis, has a career record of 310-155-9 entering the 2006 season. Since becoming

the top Bobcat in 1970, Lineburg has posted a 278-113-6 mark at Radford and won

back-to-back Group AA state titles in 1971-72.

Earlier

this summer, the 70 year-old coach was inducted into the National High School

Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame, which is located in Branson, Mo.

Lineburg served as the Radford athletic director through the 2002-03 school

year. Also in 1996, he was inducted into the Virginia High School Hall of Fame.

In

July of 2004, Radford High School and the city honored its long-time coach by

naming the field at Bobcat Stadium the "Norman G. Lineburg Field."

Lineburg

was one of those coaches who never wanted to take the credit or be in the

headlines. On several occasions he

told this reporter in interviews, "It's not about me. It's all about those

young men who put on the black and gold every week and go out there and play

their hearts out for their school and their community."

Lineburg

is not only well respected by his players, but by the many coaches who have come

in contact with him either on or off the playing the field.

"He

is a true gentleman," said Blacksburg head coach David Crist, whose son is

currently an assistant coach under Lineburg. "His teams are always well

prepared and he and his players are always a class-act."

Tim

Cromer, head football coach at Christiansburg High School, who was an assistant

coach under Lineburg for one season at Radford, echoed those same thoughts.

"I

have the utmost respect for Norm," said Cromer. "I learned a lot of things

from him."

The

one thing that both coaches also had to say about Lineburg was, "He was a

fierce competitor on the field. Off the field, he cared about his players and

the people around him. While he will never admit it, he is a living legend."

(reprinted with permission)