Bruce Jenner's Former Newtown High Football Coach Speaks Out

Bruce Jenner’s former Newtown high school football coach Peter Kohut described the former Olympian as not only the best quarterback he coached but as his best running back ever.

In an interview with ABC, Kohut talked about the young athlete and 1968 graduate of Newtown High School.

“He was a great kid, a likable kid, tall, handsome,” Kohut said.

In an interview with Diane Sawyer that aired Friday night, Jenner acknowledged that he identified as a woman and was making the transition from male to female, making him one of the highest profile people to come out as transgender.

One of Kohut’s first recruits, Jenner excelled in football, basketball and track. He also broke track and field records at Sleepy Hollow High School in New York.

“His past really highlighted excellence and that’s a quality that we want our young students to aspire to,” Sleepy Hollow High School Principal Carol Conklane-Spillane told ABC. “The timelessness of that lives on in Sleepy Hollow and that’s pretty cool.”

It wouldn’t be the first time Jenner would be recognized for his athletic prowess. At the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, he won the gold medal in the decathlon.

To carry on his legacy, the Bruce Jenner award is presented each year to an outstanding student athlete at Sleepy Hollow High School.

Jenner appeared in a two-hour televised interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC Friday night saying that for all intents and purposes he identifies as a woman.

“She is not a lie,” Jenner told Sawyer during the interview.

Support for Jenner poured in on social media.

His daughter, Kylie Jenner wrote on Twitter, “Understandingly, this has been very hard for me. You will hear what I have to say when I’m ready to but this isn’t about me. I’m so proud of you, Dad. You are so brave. My beautiful Hero.”

“So very proud of you, my hero,” wrote Kendall Jenner.

“Love is the courage to live the truest, best version of yourself. Bruce is love. I love you Bruce,” wrote Kim Kardashian West, Jenner’s step daughter and reality TV star.

Celebrities that included the likes of Ellen DeGeneres, Lady Gaga and Perez Hilton expressed their support for Jenner.

GLAAD released a statement in response to Jenner’s interview on ABC.

“Today, millions of people learned that someone they know is transgender,” GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in the statement. “By sharing this story, Bruce Jenner has shined a light on what it means to be transgender and live authentically in the face of unimaginable public scrutiny. Though Jenner’s journey is one that is deeply personal, it is also one that will impact and inspire countless people around the world.”

At this point, Jenner has chosen to be referred to by his current name and with male pronouns, according to GLAAD.

Images Screenshot via ABC