BATON ROUGE - Longtime Catholic Bears head football coach and Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer Dale Weiner died on Wednesday evening after a prolonged fight against health issues.

Weiner coached the Bears for 30 years and won the 5A state title in 2015 with Catholic and retired the following season.

"Late last night, our dad, Dale Weiner, went peacefully into the arms of Jesus," the family confirmed in a statement released by Neil Weiner.

"He was the best man we've known. As a husband, father, grandfather, and coach, everything he did was a demonstration of his faith. The eternal impact that he has had on the lives of countless people is his greatest legacy. We will be able to share details of services soon. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers."

Dale Weiner started his coaching career at Catholic of Pointe Coupee and made stops at St. John and Trafton (now Dunham where his son Neil currently coaches) before landing at Catholic in Baton Rouge as part of a 42 year coaching career.

"Coach Weiner was an instrumental piece of not only CHS Athletics, but the entire Catholic High community," the school posted on social media.

Weiner finished with a 317-110 record in his 36 seasons as a head coach and he ranks in the top 10 all-time in Louisiana in career wins. 

Dale was inducted into the LA Sports Hall of Fame in 2025 and has helped place 17 of his former players into the NFL.

His local high school "coaching tree" is just as accomplished as many of his former players and assistants have gone on to successful head coaching careers of their own.

Catholic High will host a visitation service in his memory on Monday, November 16 from 4 to 7 p.m. in the student center.

Funeral services will be on Tuesday, November 17 at First Presbyterian Church starting at 11 a.m..