Aug. 18, 2008

Football: Coach Jon Heacock Comments on Shawn Coin's Passing

   
    "The first thing I would say is this is a tragic loss. It’s a loss like any other family, we lost one of our family members. It’s very difficult. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jennifer, his family and her family. It’s just very difficult."

    "We cancelled practice and at 2:30 p.m. we met and told the team. We brought in some local clergy and some counselors and Fellowship of Christian Athletes and met as groups. We let guys speak their hearts. Some were older and close to Shawn and some were young kids and didn’t know him as well."

    "We are trying to get things in perspective and going in one direction. Right now they are going in a whole bunch. We are blessed that we have a lot of people who care about our kids and their families and this program. We asked for their help today and they were here."

    "Shawn played a huge role in our operation. When you work with somebody, we all have roles and he was kind of a behind-the-scenes guys, but yet it was evident to our older guys he was always around and had some good things to say to them.

    "We lost part of our team today and that hurts. He was part of our day-to-day operation and helped make everything work and did things that made the rest of our lives easier. He was a good guy, a good person."