Fans filled the stands of the St. Pius X George B. Maloof Stadium in October not to root for the home team but to honor the school’s longtime coach.
A player on Bobby Dodd’s undefeated 1951 Yellow Jackets team, George Maloof, IM 53, spent nearly three decades coaching St. Pius’ football team to gridiron glory. Following a long battle with cancer, Mr. Maloof died at his Atlanta home on Oct. 4 at the age of 79. His funeral was held in the St. Pius stadium, which was renamed for him in 2004.
In 26 seasons as head football coach at St. Pius X, Mr. Maloof led the Golden Lions to a 168-85-12 record. In 1968, St. Pius became the first Catholic school to win the Class AA state championship. Mr. Maloof twice was named Georgia Class AA Coach of the Year in the 1960s.
In 2003, Mr. Maloof received the Touchdown Club of Atlanta’s inaugural Legends of the Game honor. He was inducted into the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame in June.
An Atlanta native, Mr. Maloof lettered in football, baseball and basketball at the Marist School before attending Tech, where he lettered in football and baseball. He scored four touchdowns in Tech’s 1951 matchup with Georgia, a record for most touchdowns in a game. The Yellow Jackets won the game 48-6 and finished the season positioned at No. 5 in the Associated Press rankings.
Following graduation, Mr. Maloof served two years in the Air Force as a second lieutenant. He was named Most Valuable Player for the 9th Air Force football team and was selected to play in the Fort Bragg All-Star team. In 1956, he returned to Marist as assistant football coach. He was named head coach at St. Pius when the school opened in 1958.
During his tenure at the school, Mr. Maloof also coached baseball and basketball for eight years; taught math and mechanical drawing; and served as athletics director, assistant to the principal and head of boys discipline. In 1982, his contributions to education were recognized with the Papal Medal, Benemerenti, awarded by Pope John Paul II. Mr. Maloof was named the Archdiocese of Atlanta’s Man of the Year in 1983.
In a 2003 interview with Georgia Trend, Mr. Maloof said he turned down an opportunity to join Georgia Tech’s coaching staff in the late 1960s. “I was away from home enough as it was, and going into college coaching would have kept me away much more,” he told the magazine.
“The college assistant is always on the road. … It would have been nice going back to Tech but not at the expense of my family time.”
Two of Mr. Maloof’s children followed him into high school coaching in Georgia. Son Kevin is head coach at Dacula, and son Keith coaches at Norcross.
Mr. Maloof’s legacy at St. Pius remains strong despite having retired from the school more than 20 years ago.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that members of the football team this season wore Mr. Maloof’s initials on the back of their helmets to honor the ailing former coach, who watched one home game from the comfort of his car parked on the track.
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