Beloved and inspirational Oakland football coach loses battle with cancer
Support swells for beloved Oakland high school football coach, Adrian Cooper, as the 40-year-old battles stomach cancer. (Courtesy of GoFundMe)
OAKLAND, Calif. - A beloved East Bay high school football coach lost his battle to cancer, weeks after attending signing day for his players.
Fremont High School football coach Adrian "Coop" Cooper passed away on Feb. 26 after a rigorous fight against cancer.
Before he passed, he made a commitment to his team that he would attend the school's signing day event on Feb. 2, where football prospects announce their college decisions.
Despite the toll that the disease and chemotherapy had been taking on him, he was in attendance.
"I almost didn’t come," he said that day. "I was just depressed. But I thought about the boys and how much it means to them… They get me through the day a lot of days. There were some days during the season, on Fridays, where I got out of chemo and came here to coach. They keep me grounded."
There's been a swell of support for Oakland coach and personal trainer, Adrian Cooper (right). The Fremont High School assistant football coach has battling stomach cancer. (Courtesy: Adrian Cooper)
The assistant football coach was diagnosed with lymphoma of the stomach in late September. And for months while undergoing treatment he was unable to train and coach his team.
Cooper, who grew up in the Bay Area playing competitive youth sports himself, coached for more than 15 years. He started off his football coaching career at Oakland High School and sent more than 18 of his student athletes to play Division I college football. He's also worked as a personal trainer, building his own fitness company, IAMFitness510, and established his own youth flag football league and team.
While his list of accomplishments in youth sports were impressive, those who have worked with Coach Coop stressed that his mentorship and training went far beyond the field, as he's credited for making college a priority in the lives of his student athletes.
Fremont High senior and football player Etuate Finau shared how Cooper served as a "guiding hand," and an influence that helped turn his academic life around.
"I went from classes and skipping classes, to becoming a true student athlete, my grades are higher than they have ever been," Finau said, as he noted that it's because of Cooper, that he’s now a nationally recruited athlete. " … as soon as I met him, he told me what his true goals and aspirations were for me and that was to get me to college to play this sport that I love so much," Finau shared.
A GoFundMe campaign was set up last year to help with Cooper's medical expenses and is being converted to help pay for his funeral expenses.