Dan Coughlin, longtime Cleveland sports anchor and writer, dies at 86

Dan Coughlin was a news man until the end.

The longtime sports anchor for Fox 8 Cleveland passed away on Sunday. He was 86.

"With a very heavy heart we announce the passing of our friend and colleague Dan Coughlin," Fox 8 reporters wrote on their website on Sunday.

This past Friday, Coughlin was on the job working the St. Edward against St. Ignatius high school football game for Fox 8's "Friday Night Touchdown."

It was fitting as Coughlin was a 1956 graduate of St. Edward.

Coughlin joined Fox 8 in 1983 where he worked as a sports anchor. Always presenting his reports with a smile and a touch of humor, Coughlin worked with WJW luminaries Dick Goddard, Robin Swoboda, Tim Taylor and countless others.

The WJW sports desk in those days was a who's who of local sports anchors. Coughlin, Casey Coleman, Tony Rizzo and John Telich all called WJW home in the 1980s and beyond.

Coughlin retired from full-time television work in 2018 , but continued to make appearances on "Friday Night Ohio."

Before he made the move to television, Coughlin was a longtime sportswriter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He started there in 1964 and collected armfuls of awards before leaving in 1982. His work at the Plain Dealer inspired journalists throughout Northeast Ohio.

In addition to television and newspaper work, Coughlin also authored several books. The latest, "Just One More Story..." came out in 2018 from Gray & Company.

He is a 1996 inductee of the Cleveland Press Club Journalism Hall of Fame. In 2017 Coughlin was enshrined into the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame.

"We have truly lost a legend and a great friend," Fox 8 reporters Talia Naquin and Justin Dennis wrote.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Dan Coughlin, longtime Cleveland sports anchor and writer, dies at 86