A few more things about Raymond Cobb you might not know

Former SouthWest Edgecombe High head football coach Raymond Cobb was kind enough to sit down with me this week to reminisce about his 33-year teaching and coaching career, which will come to an end Jan. 31 when he retires. Of course, I don't expect him to be a total stranger since he plans on functioning as an advisor/assistant to his son, Jonathan, who will take over the Cougars varsity edition in the fall.

The elder Cobb spent nearly two hours telling story after story about his illustrious career, which included N.C. High School Athletic Association 1-A championships in 1994 and 1997 at North Edgecombe. My story on him in Thursday's edition of The Wilson Times covered a lot of ground but there were a few things I didn't include.

So here they are:

• Cobb was the head coach at North Edgecombe from 1988 to 2003 and served as J.V. head coach from 1981 to 1983 and varsity assistant from 1981 to 1987. He succeeded Tom Collins as Warriors head coach. Collins, who was head coach for one season, would go on to become athletic director at Campbell University and Brevard College.

• At North Edgecombe, Cobb's teams never lost a state playoff game at home.

• His 1996 North Edgecombe team ran for 5,980 yards, which is still an NCHSAA record.

• Milton Shaw, Cobb's star running back from 1989 to 1991, was named The Associated Press Player of the Year in 1991. The only Warrior to achieve that distinction. Shaw also holds the state record for consecutive games of rushing for 100 or more yards with 24.

• In 1992 and 1994, North Edgecombe tied a state record shared by many by not allowing a single first down in a game, both times against Jamesville.

• Cobb's famous wishbone offense was developed from University of Colorado's I-bone attack in the early 1990s. Cobb wrote to then Buffaloes head coach Bill McCartney, who sent him a playbook. The Warriors didn't make the switch to the wishbone until 1994, the year of their first state championship.

• Cobb's quarterback at North Edgecombe in 1993, Tyrice Pittman, threw for 2,332 yards, which is probably more than his half of teams nine teams at SouthWest combined threw for.

• Only Jimmy Tillman, SouthWest's second football coach who was there for 11 seasons, led the Cougars longer than Cobb.