Saying he is looking forward to the next chapter of his life, Bob Gaddis on Friday announced his retirement, effective at the end of the school year, as the Columbus East High School athletics director.
Gaddis will continue to be East’s head football coach but won’t hold a position as either a teacher or administrator at the school.
With his wife, Karen, retiring as a kindergarten teacher at Richards Elementary School at the end of the school year, Gaddis said the timing was right.
“I’ve been thinking about it for some time,” Gaddis said. “I’ve enjoyed my 9½ years as athletics director. But with my wife retiring, I thought it was time. We got to make the decision on our own terms.”
Gaddis said he was not considering any jobs in other areas.
“I’m still going to be involved with East High School. I am still going to go into work and attend events. As far as being the football coach, I hope to be at East for years to come.”
He said John Quick, Bartholomew Consolidated Schools superintendent, and Mark Newell, Columbus East principal, have been tremendously supportive.
“This was a pretty hard decision because the BCSC has been awfully good to me,” he said.
Besides his work as East’s head football coach, Gaddis is executive director of the Indiana Football Coaches Association.
Gaddis, who was headed Friday evening for a short vacation in Florida, said he would be happy to help a new athletics director with the transition if needed.
Columbus East just finished work on a new locker room facility adjacent to its football field. Gaddis said it might make sense for him to work out of an office in that building.
Gaddis came to East in 2001 and has a 150-30 record as the head football coach. He has been a head football coach 37 years overall and has posted a 268-130 record.
