- Former NFL and Georgia Tech coach Bobby Ross, 88, is battling chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
- Ross plans to watch his former team play Colorado in their season opener, coached by Deion Sanders, who recently recovered from bladder cancer surgery.
- Ross led Georgia Tech to a shared national championship in 1990 with Colorado, marking the first time the two teams will play each other.
Former NFL head coach Bobby Ross has endured some troubling health issues recently at age 88 but won’t be kept from watching the big game this week on television. His old college football team, Georgia Tech, opens the season at Colorado on Friday Aug. 29 in an 8 p.m. ET game on ESPN.
Ross coached Georgia Tech to a share of the national championship for the 1990 season, when the Yellow Jackets finished 11-0-1. The national title was shared with Colorado, which finished 11-1-1. The two teams have never played.
“It’ll be interesting to see,” Ross recently said in a recent interview with USA TODAY Sports. “I hope (Colorado coach) Deion Sanders recovers from his illness. That’s sad. I hope he can get through that.”
Sanders had surgery to remove a cancerous bladder in May but has recovered and otherwise is coaching his team as normal.
Ross’ health situation also involves a form of cancer: chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). CLL is “very hard to cure,” but most people can live with the disease for many years, according to the American Cancer Society.
“It is a form of cancer, but it’s not usually thought of as a serious one,” Ross said. “But if your lymph nodes start to grow… then you’ve got to be careful. That’s where I am right now.”
What is ex-NFL coach Bobby Ross doing now?
Ross lives in Richmond, Va., with his wife Alice, having retired from coaching after the 2006 season as head coach of Army. He previously coached the Detroit Lions and San Diego Chargers, a team he led to the Super Bowl in January 1995.
He said he recently was invited to a football-related event in Atlanta but wasn’t sure if he’d make it because of his health. He said his wife also had cancer removed.
“So it’s been a rough winter for us health-wise,” Ross said.
He still was adamant he’d watch Georgia Tech’s season opener.
“Oh, for sure,” Ross said. “I’ll watch it. I sure will. Very much so.”
Ross coached the Yellow Jackets for five seasons from 1987 through 1991 before he was hired by the Chargers in the NFL.
One of his former Georgia Tech players, Mike MacIntyre, later became head coach at Colorado from 2013-2018. Under MacIntyre in 2016, Colorado and Georgia Tech agreed by contract to play this game in 2025 and another one in Atlanta in 2026.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com