Joe Carbone has wrapped up his career after 24 years at the helm of the Bobcat baseball program, but another Ohio coach will surpass his tenure next fall.
Ohio men’s golf coach Bob Cooley will enter his 25th year as the head men’s golf coach when the Bobcats take to the links next fall. Cooley will soon become the longest-tenured coach at Ohio, and has fond memories of coach Carbone.
Cooley has known Carbone since college, when both competed for Ohio in their respective sports, and said they have a good relationship, often sitting together at football games.
Cooley said they did not believe he and Carbone would ever coach together after they went their separate ways trying to turn pro. But now their coaching offices are across the hall from each other, and Cooley would often give Carbone pointers when they could not hit the links together.
Cooley said he wishes his friend the best of luck after the end of this year.
“I wish Joe all the best. He’s been a good friend, a great coach, done a lot of really nice things for the baseball program,” Cooley said.
Like coach Carbone, Cooley has his heart in Athens.
Cooley attended Athens High School and, like many Bulldogs, went on to attend
Ohio University. He played baseball through junior high before switching to golf.
“We were really good, and OU had had a great history of golf with coach (Kermit) Blosser,” Cooley said. “It was a real honor to make the team and to be a starter for three years was even a bigger thrill.”
Ohio won 18 Mid-American Conference titles under Blosser’s instruction.
While Cooley was a member of the golf team at Ohio, the team won two MAC Championships.
Cooley is the second head coach in Ohio golf history and ironically shares a birthday with Blosser, who died in 2006.
“I’m real proud that we won two conference championships the three years we were eligible when I was in school and trying to carry on the traditions,” he said.
“That’s what’s been important.”
After graduating with a degree in business administration in 1971, he left Athens to become the assistant golf professional at Village Country Club in Uniontown, Ohio. He then ventured to Canada to play professionally and also played in two U.S. Amateur Golf Championships.
Cooley returned to Athens because his father owned Union Printing Company, which is now Minuteman Press on Washington Street.
While helping out with the family business, he coached the Athens High School golf team for five years.
He also helped Blosser coach the Bobcats before taking the reins in 1988.
His wife, Nannette, said family is one of the reasons Cooley has remained at Ohio for so long.
“This is a great place to raise a family, and I think it made it easy to make that kind of decision,” Nannette Cooley said.
Ohio senior golfer John Mlynarski said Cooley cares deeply about OU and his job.
“You can tell that he’s passionate about it,” Mlynarski said. “He’s always been a Bobcat and he always plans to be a Bobcat, and he tries to instill that spirit within all his players.”
mk277809@ohiou.edu
