Who Believe? Chad Coulter's spirit lives on through his son on and off the field

Chad Coulter embodied everything good about Orangefield, Texas. His work ethic, his selfless motivation, his love for his family and neighbor. He passed away from cancer in 2019, but his spirit lives on in his son, Coby Coulter.

If you have a chance to look up toward the heavens today, give it a second and you might hear the faint whispers of a man yelling “Who Believe?” as he did so often around Orangefield, Texas.

Go ahead and shout back “We Believe” if you’re able. It would mean a lot to the Coulters.

Chad Coulter is no longer with us; he succumbed to his battle with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma shortly after the 2019 football season. But his memory most definitely lives on in the tight-knit community 25 minutes east of Beaumont.

Coulter bled orange and white. He grew up a Bobcat and proudly wore the No. 72 as he became an all-state offensive lineman before going off to play at Kilgore College.

He was known around town as the man that would yell the first part of Orangefield’s school motto, “Who Believe?”

Someone that most definitely does is his son Coby, a junior-to-be who wears the same number and plays the same position in honor of his pops.

“He was a nice guy who cared for everyone in Orangefield,” Coby said. “He really loved the people around here. He loved being around people. He loved all of us, the whole family.”

Chad did a bit of everything in the Orangefield school system. He coached track, was the junior high boys athletic coordinator, was an offensive line coach at the high school, taught science.

“Hell, at one point he was the assistant softball coach,” said Josh Smalley, Orangefield’s head football coach.

He didn’t stop coaching football until he had a couple of heart attacks.

“When he got done with stem cell therapy the doctor told him he needed to take two to three months off. But he loved going to work,” said his wife, Heggie Coulter. “He loved being with those kids. He was in everything.”

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