After 13 state titles, Rocky Mountain track coach retires to start new chapter
Only one man has ever led the Rocky Mountain High track and field program. But that decorated coach is leaving to start a new chapter.
Brad Abbott recently retired from coaching, ending a 35-year career on the sidelines to take a teaching job at Middleton High. Abbott said he wants to spend more time with his son and daughter, who are entering their senior and junior years at Middleton.
“I think everybody runs into a time in their life where you know there needs to be a change,” Abbott said. “... I’ve been coaching other people’s kids the best that I can for so long. I want to see my kids. I want to be at the other end of it. I want to watch them.”
Abbott, 57, leaves some monumental shoes to fill at Rocky Mountain. He founded the Grizzlies’ track program when the school opened in 2008-09 and turned it into a state powerhouse, leading Rocky Mountain to 13 team state championships.
Those 13 trophies include eight straight state titles for the Rocky Mountain boys program between 2016 and ‘24. Add in a previous four-peat, and Abbott and the Grizzlies’ boys team finished first in the state’s largest classification 12 times in 13 years.
But Abbott said all that hardware doesn’t make the list of his top memories.
“It’s the memories of individual kids that rose to the occasion when they needed to,” Abbott said. “Or the staff members, the assistant coaches, that were able to inspire and help kids that normally wouldn’t be able to accomplish what they were able to accomplish.
“That’s what I’m going to hang on to until the day I die.”
The longtime science teacher took a similar position at Middleton, where the family lives around the corner. He said he has no plans to coach at a new school.
Abbott founded a fly fishing guide business six years ago. He said Middleton’s four-day school week will provide more time for that venture.
“I’ve been doing that for the last six years, and coaching track and teaching full-time. So it’s a welcome change,” Abbott said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2026 at 11:54 AM.
