April 20th, 2018 by WCBC Radio

Cumberland native and legendary football coach Earle ”Lefty” Bruce passed away Friday following a lengthy illness.  The announcement made by his family from his Columbus Ohio home.

Bruce, born in March 8^th, 1931 served as the head coach at the University of Tampa (1972), Iowa State University (1973–1978), Ohio State University (1979–1987), the University of Northern Iowa (1988), and Colorado State University (1989–1992), compiling a career college football record of 154–90–2. At Ohio State, Bruce succeeded the legendary Woody Hayes and won four Big Ten Conference titles. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2002.

Bruce returned to coaching in 2003 to helm the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League for a season and also guided the Columbus Destroyers the following year.  

In his private life, Earle Bruce is married with four children and eight grandchildren. His daughters' names are Lynn, Mikky, Aimee, and Noel. It was revealed, on August 25th, 2017, that Bruce was battling the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete