FOOTBALL

Bloomfield football coach Bob Allcorn retires after seven years leading alma mater

Matt Hollinshead
Farmington Daily Times
Bloomfield coach Bob Allcorn watches his team practice on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018 at Bobcat Stadium. Allcorn, a 1982 BHS football graduate, led the Bobcats to back-to-back state finals appearances in 2018 and 2019.

ALBUQUERQUE — Bob Allcorn is forever grateful he got to lead his high school alma mater back to statewide prominence during his final years of coaching. The Bloomfield football graduate-turned coach guided the Bobcats to state finals appearances in 2018 and 2019 — the furthest the program went in nearly three decades.

His time and legacy with the program has come full circle, which brought him peace in deciding to call it a career immediately after Thursday’s Bloomfield-Lovington game at University Stadium in Albuquerque.

Allcorn made the decision to retire just before this spring season started, adding it took about a month to accept his choice.

“I wanted to give it time to sit… I’m very happy with my decision,” Allcorn said.

It wasn't an easy decision for Allcorn, but different family circumstances ultimately led to the decision.

Allcorn's father passed away during the Thanksgiving holiday in 2020, and he sought the chance to spend more time with his children and grandchildren who currently reside in the Albuquerque area.

“It kind of made me realize I need to look at my relationship with my kids and my grandkids… I want to be able to have time to be a better papa… I just wanted to have that time to dedicate to them,” Allcorn said.

And his family was right there with on Thursday, witnessing his final game right at University Stadium.

“They’ve always been super supportive,” Allcorn said. “They came to my games whenever they can, especially the playoff games… It’s always a joy to share that with them.”

Allcorn, a 1982 Bloomfield graduate, accumulated 30 years of total coaching experience dating back to when he served an assistant at Albuquerque’s Highland High School during his college days.

He spent 11 years as Moriarty’s coach between 2003 and 2013 before returning to Bloomfield in 2014.

“Being able to accomplish what we have with the kids, it was great to get there,” said Allcorn, who also took on defensive play-calling duties in 2018. “For me, it was very fulfilling, take the things I learned (coaching) put it together and build a program… For us, it was really a special time to put this program where it’s at.”

Going forward, Allcorn said he still hopes to be able to occasionally help the program with summer workouts.

Nevertheless, he’s ready to go off into the sunset, being completely at peace with the next chapter in his life.

Matt Hollinshead covers sports and business for the Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4577, mhollinshead@daily-times.com and on Twitter at @MattH_717.

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