A native of Etowah County, Couch played football at Emma Sansom and Auburn University before joining the Navy during World War II. Afterward, he served as captain of Don Salls’ first team at Jacksonville State. Following several coaching jobs and a second military stint, he began coaching at Sylvania, where he enjoyed nine consecutive winning seasons. His Rams won three DeKalb County Championships with records of 9-1, 9-1 and 8-2. His 1956 squad was selected the state Class AAA Champion. Couch later served as basketball coach at Etowah, then took a job as vocational director at Talladega High School. He held that position for 16 years
