Texas high school football coach dies unexpectedly

Fort Bend ISD mourns loss of longtime Bush High School coach Allen Aldridge, a 'gentle giant,' Houston native and Super Bowl champion

Fort Bend Bush (Texas) coach Allen Aldridge stands on the sidelines. / Courtesy of Fort Bend ISD

A longtime Texas high school football coach has died unexpectedly.

Fort Bend Bush coach Allen Aldridge died unexpectedly, Fort Bend ISD confirmed with SBLive on Monday morning, calling him a "gentle giant from a family with deep roots in the NFL and the Houston sports community.

He was 52. The cause of death is not immediately know.

"He was known for his commitment to developing his players into young men who conducted themselves with integrity and pride, and he would times show his Super Bowl ring to students to demonstrate that nothing as impossible," the district said in a statement.

Aldridge, a Houston area native, coaches for 20 seasons at Fort Bend Bush in the Houston area after an NFL career that went from 1994-2002 and included a Super Bowl victory.

The news was first reported by Dave Campbell's Texas Football.

A standout linebacker and long-snapper, he starred at Willowridge High School before playing at Houston. In 1994, he was taken in the second round (51st pick) of the NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos.

Aldridge was selected as the Houston Texans' Texas high school football coach of the week in 2022, and said the most rewarding part of his job as a coach was "when ex-players return and talk about what football has done for them."

Fort Bend Bush played its second game of the 2024 Texas high school football season on Friday and lost to Katy Taylor 26-3.

Allen Aldridge (57) is pictured as the Denver Broncos take on the Los Angeles Rams at Anaheim Stadium in November 1994. / Peter Brouillet-Imagn Images

"My father was a coach, my mother is a retired teacher, my sister is a teacher…..I have a family full of educators," he told the Texans in 2022. "Hard work and dedication will take you far in life. "Class and Character" was my school motto at Willowridge High School, and I carried that with me my entire life. I always wanted to coach High School football."

Here is Fort Bend ISD's complete statement:

The Fort Bend ISD community is deeply saddened by the devastating loss of George Bush High School Coach Allen Aldridge.

Coach Aldridge was a gentle giant from a family with deep roots in the NFL and the Houston sports community.

At Bush High School he was known for his commitment to developing his players into young men who conducted themselves with integrity and pride, and he would sometimes show his Super Bowl ring to students to demonstrate that nothing was impossible.

In his 20 years of service as a coach for the George Bush Broncos, Coach Aldridge had a positive impact on the lives of thousands of young men and women. He lived by the motto he learned as a FBISD student at Willowridge High School to exemplify Class and Character in all aspects of his life. His presence and influence as a servant leader, mentor and teacher were felt by all at George Bush High and his positivity was evident among players, coaches, and colleagues as he directed them to always “Coach ‘em up!”

We extend our deepest condolences along with heartfelt thoughts of comfort and strength to the Aldridge family, as well to Coach’s players, students, colleagues and all who knew and loved him.

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