By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune Sports Reporter
Craig Mullins, a former Boone County High School football player who became a nationally recognized coach, lost his battle with cancer on Monday morning. He was 45 years old.
Mullins was diagnosed with lung cancer last December after his second season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Morehead State University.
Craig Mullins
“I have lost one of my best friends,” said Rob Tenyer, head football coach at Morehead. “Craig was a great husband, father and coach. He was a humble man with integrity who touched everyone he crossed paths with. The MSU football family sends its thoughts and prayers to Craig’s family and friends.”
Mullins is survived by his wife, Heidi, and two sons, Cade and Coy. Visitation will be held Thursday from 12 to 1 p.m. in St. John Chapel on the campus at Georgetown College, where Mullins spent 16 seasons as an assistant football coach. Services will begin at 1 p.m. Thursday in the chapel. Funeral arrangements can be found here.
After he was diagnosed with lung cancer, Mullins’ sister-in-law started a campaign that raised more than $13,000 to help cover medical expenses by selling t-shirts with Team Mullins printed on them. Photos of people wearing the dark blue t-shirt have been posted on Facebook for several weeks along with notes of support.
But the cancer spread quickly despite medical treatments and operations. He passed away Monday morning with family and friends by his side.
“The world is just a little bit less without him in it,” said Conner football coach Dave Trosper, who grew up with Mullins and played high school football with him. “He was a great person, a great friend and a great coach. Everybody he knew and was around him, he just turned into gold.”
Mullins played running back for the Boone County High School football team until his senior season in 1986 when he switched to quarterback and led the Rebels to the Class 4A state championship game.
Rick Thompson, an assistant coach on the 1986 Boone County team, said Mullins didn’t hesitate to take on the new role of quarterback.
“Craig showed leadership, toughness and all those great attributes for as long as I knew him,” Thompson said.
Mullins attended Georgetown College on a football scholarship. He played quarterback for the Tigers from 1987-1990 and still ranks among the career leaders in several passing statistics. He was selected to three all-conference teams and received two Academic All-America awards as a college player.
After graduating from Georgetown in 1991, Mullins earned a master’s degree and certification in special education from California University in Pennsylvania while coaching football there for three seasons.
He later returned to Georgetown and spent 16 years as the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. While he was on the staff, the Tigers complied a 155-36 record, made four consecutive trips to the NAIA championship game from 1999-2002 and won back-to-back national titles in 2000 and 2001.
Mullins played such a key role in Georgetown’s success that he was named the American Football Coaches Association NAIA Assistant Coach of the Year in 2011 and AFCA NAIA Coordinator of the Year in 1999.
Mullins joined the Morehead State coaching staff prior to the 2013 season and his 20-year coaching career ended with the Eagles.
Trosper was with his close friend when he passed away Monday morning in the intensive care unit at a hospital in Morehead.
“When I found out (he had cancer) the first day it got out, I was pretty upset,” Trosper said. “But he told me, ‘Don’t you feel sorry for me because I’m going to kick this thing’s butt.’ And that’s what he did until the last click on his monitor (at the hospital).”
Mullins, who was inducted into the Northern Kentucky High School Athletic Directors Hall of Fame in 2004, was also an assistant football coach at Ryle High School in 1992 and 1996. He recruited high school players from all around the state while he was an assistant at Georgetown and Morehead.
Trosper said the Morehead players often visited Mullins while he was in the intensive care unit at the hospital
“He was the ultimate recruiter because the kids loved him,” Trosper said. “Through out the time he was in ICU I can’t tell you the number of players who cried and kissed him and said they loved him.”
