Concord University Alumni Magazine - Fall 2025

At Bluefield State, he watched the football program falter aWs irt he sni doesnecceu hr eadl l sh aonuds i nt hgeocradf ei nt ei nr iga ocpl ot si oendsi no nt hcea ml a tpeu’s6, 0t hs .e coach predicted recruiting efforts for some athletes would grind to a halt in Bluefield. “Football was going to have a hard time surviving,” he told the Bluefield Daily Telegraph in a 2013 interview. Concord offered a new beginning. When he took over the Mountain Lions in 1974, the program was coming off an 0-9 season and a depleted roster. Colobro was realistic. “wYeo ul odooknf’ot rwsionmwei thhe lf pr efsrhommeonu. rT yhoe uy ncga np lhaeylepr sy.oBuuwt , iyno, ua n d nDeaeildy eTxepleegrrieanpchetdhvaet tAeuragnussti.n this conference,” he told the

At Concord University, Coach Tony Colobro was “The Chief,” the architect of five conference championships ihnu smi xo yr eeavresr. -Hp ri se spel anyt ,baonodk hwi sa sc ai nr en of ovra tpi ve eo ,pyl ee tassi ms t ep al ed, yh oi sf f the field as on it. John Pinter, who followed Colobro from Bluefield State thouCmoonrctohredmanodsts.pent 15 years with him, remembers his “wI aws ni l ’lt saa yd aI ywtahsa wt hi tehdhi di mn ’ tf ohra 1v e5 uy se ai nr ssat itt cChoensc, ”o Pr di n, at enrds tahi de r. e “We were laughing. He was just a great individual.” Cwool rokbi rnog’ st of aemn idl yo, wf o trhme eCr opal cahy eTros n, ay nCdo cl ooba rcoh eFso oa rt be anl lo w Sg oc ho odl aa rc sahdiepm, si uc ps pt aonrdt iinngg —j u ne xi opraonrd si ne gn ioonr aMloeug na ct ayi nC oLl ioobnrso i n built over his remarkable 100 years. Bi noWr neilnc hK, iWmVb, aCl loilno b1r9o2e3xtcoe lIlteadl i ai nn bi ma smk ei gt br aa nl l tbs eafnodr er saei srevdi n g aa sn da hUi. sS .wAirf me , yP amuel idniec , isne Wt t loerdl di nWMacrDI Io. wA ef tlel rC tohuenwt ya, rr,ahi sei n g ft oa uu rg hc th ai l nd dr ecno—a cNh iecdk ,aSt uI as ea gn e, rF raanndk W, a enldc hT oh ni gyhI Is—c hwo ohlisl e. Bhye the 1960s, the family moved to Bluefield, where Colobro transitioned into college athletics as both coach and athletic director at Bluefield State and later at Concord, retiring in the early 1980s.

Coach Tony Colobro and his assistants, John Pinter and Ted Gillespie, pose for a photo early in their Concord coaching careers. Photo courtesy of Bluefield Daily Telegraph archives.

36

CONCORD UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE