'A selfless man': Columbus West football coach Aaron Owens dies at 56
As a man of faith and as an educator, Aaron Owens made it his mission to help students in Columbus City Schools.
When a West High School student needed a ride to summer school, Owens arranged for transportation.
“He was the graduation coach,” athletic director Aaron Geis said. “He goes above and beyond to get our seniors to graduate.”
Owens, a longtime CCS employee, also coached West's football and boys track and field teams. Counselors were brought to the school Monday to meet with football players, alumni and staff, who learned in the past few days that Owens had died Friday at 56.
He believed in finding opportunities for students to excel, Geis said, because “faith was a big part of who he was.”
Owens died during a family vacation to Mexico, said Gahanna Lincoln athletic director Kathryn Harris, a family friend. Owens is survived by his wife of 28 years, Shalonda, and daughters Christian, Courtney, Khilah and Arin.
Arin played volleyball at Gahanna and Courtney ran track for the school.
“He’s an amazing father and husband,” Harris said. “What he does for his four daughters, they’re like best friends.”
Harris said Owens was “a man of God” who was passionate about his family and helping student-athletes. He was active in Resurrection Power Church of God in Christ in Gahanna.
Dozens of people posted tributes to Owens on his Facebook page.
“You changed my life (and) you showed me how to be a man, a husband, a father,“ one post read. “One of the many attributes you had was vision. You could see things in people that nobody else could. You can take boys and girls and turn them into men and women.”
Another post read: “It breaks my heart knowing the hearts you won't be able to touch and kids who won't have your guidance. You were an outstanding man and I'm honored to have known you and had you in my life!! R.I.P Coach O! There will never be another you!”
Owens was “just known as ‘Coach,’ ” Harris said. “If you’re over at their house, his wife would call him ‘Coach.’ He’s ‘Coach’ to everybody, ‘Coach O.’ Everywhere you go, he’s ‘Coach.’ He’s done so much for kids and programs. He’s a selfless man.”
Owens graduated from Langston University in Oklahoma in 1991, the same year he began his CCS career as a health and physical education teacher at Champion Middle School. He also taught at Marion-Franklin and Linden-McKinley high schools.
His coaching career includes previous stints as West's football coach (2002-05) and track coach (1997-2007). He also was Linden's football coach (2009-15) and track coach (2010-15) and served as an assistant football coach at Mifflin, East, West and Africentric.
He was an assistant football coach at West last fall and was eager to begin another tenure leading the Cowboys.
“We talked every day,” Geis said. “He had a plan. The plan was to grow our football program to get out of the rut that it’s in.”
The Cowboys went 0-9 in 2021 and 2022, 0-5 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, 0-10 in 2019 and 1-9 in 2018. Their last win came in the second-to-last game of 2018, 15-14 over Africentric.
West went 5-5 in 2017 and 9-2 in 2016, earning a playoff berth in Division II, Region 7.
With preseason practices set to begin Monday, Geis said the coaching staff plans “to move forward kind of collectively” in the short term.
West opens its season Aug. 18 at Hilliard Davidson.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus West football coach Aaron Owens dies at 56
