NEW ORLEANS — A local football coaching legend is being remembered Friday evening.
We learned today that Otis "Coach Wash" Washington died this morning.
Coach Wash was the winningest coach in St. Augustine High School football history. He coached 11 years at the school, from 1969 to 1979, winning seven district titles, three championships and plenty of recognition in the Louisiana football community.
He went on to coach the offensive line at LSU, breaking the color barrier among the tigers assistant coach staff. He later became the head coach at Southern University, according to WWL Radio.
Washington entered the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell issued a statement on Washington's passing, saying in part that he was a leader on and off the field, teaching players how to achieve excellence through discipline:
"New Orleans has lost a leader and a legend with the passing of Coach Otis Washington. My prayers and my heart go out to his family, to his friends, and to the St. Augustine community. Coach Washington was a leader on the field and off of it, and he taught generations of players what it meant to have discipline and to achieve excellence. May he rest in God’s perfect peace," Cantrell said.
Coach Otis Washington was 80-years-old.