Bruce Peterson, a longtime Buncombe County educator, former Asheville High School football coach and two-time North Carolina High School Coach of the Year, died on March 3. He passed away at the age of 85.
Peterson has been involved in education for over 30 years as a longtime teacher and administrator. He was named Buncombe County Principal of the Year and received an award from the NCHSAA for his contributions to high school athletics.
“Whatever he did, he was a top-notch player,” said Charlie Metcalfe, who coached Peterson at Asheville High School after he retired. “He just reinvented himself. People who know him as a football coach, people who know him as a high school principal, and the responsibility of (former U.S. Rep.) Heath Shuler's political office. Some knew him as a man.”
In 1994, Peterson was honored for his career by being inducted into the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Peterson was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and tennis from 1960 to 1964 and was inducted into the Western Carolina Hall of Fame in 2001.
Peterson was awarded the prestigious Medal of Honor as a Catamount. He started as a quarterback, halfback and defensive back in football. He started as a guard in basketball. He was a captain in all three of his sports and was a player and coach for his 1963 tennis team.
After graduating from Western Carolina University, Peterson coached football and basketball at Cane River High School in Burnsville before moving to Lee H. Edwards High School. In 1974, shortly after Edwards integrated to become Asheville High School, Peterson was hired to coach the football team.
“They've had a tumultuous time,” Metcalf said. “Bruce just stuck with it. He had an abiding influence that everyone liked. … What he was doing was just classy.”
Peterson led the Cougars to a 76-34-1 record in 11 seasons and reached the playoffs seven times. He was twice named North Carolina High School Coach of the Year and coached in both the East-West All-Star Game and the Shrine Bowl.
In 1984, he resigned as Asheville's coach and accepted a job as Enca's principal. He retired in his 1995 year.
Peterson remained busy after his retirement. He was heavily involved with the Buncombe County Democratic Party, serving as director of Shuler's 11th Congressional District office and helping establish the Asheville-Buncombe Regional Sports Commission.
He also never left sports, regularly attending Western Carolina football games and the Southern Conference basketball tournament in Asheville. Even in recent years, long after Peterson finished coaching, he still wanted to talk football.
“It's really nice to sit down and really talk to a guy like Bruce Peterson,” Metcalf said.
Evan Gericke is a high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen-Times. Email egerike@citizentimes.com or follow us on Twitter @EvanGerike. Please support this kind of journalism by subscribing to Citizen Times.
