Football coach ‘died a hero’ in school shooting
“Just a good man. Loved his family. Loved his brother — just an excellent family man.” WILLIS MAY DOUGLAS HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
An assistant football coach, a popular wrestling coach and athletic director, a cross-country coach and several athletes were among the victims of Wednesday’s mass shooting at a Florida high school.
Aaron Feis, an assistant football coach and security guard, was shot after throwing himself in front of students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., according to news reports.
The football team announced Feis’s death on Twitter early Thursday morning, writing that Feis “died a hero” and “will forever be in our hearts and memories.”
Douglas head football Coach Willis May described the 37-year old assis- tant as a “big ol’ teddy bear” in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel.
“Hardcore — he coached hard,” May said of Feis. “He did a great job with the (offensive) line. He took pride with working with those guys. Loyalty — I trusted him. He had my back. He worked hard. Just a good man. Loved his family. Loved his brother — just an excellent family man.”
The newspaper reported Feis re- sponded to the call in his capacity as a school security guard. May, who also carries a radio, told the paper he heard someone ask if the loud sounds heard were firecrackers.
“I heard Aaron say, ‘No, that is not firecrackers.’ That’s the last I heard of him,” May told the paper.
The team website said Feis spent his entire coaching career at Marjory Stoneman after playing there as a student.
Feis graduated from the school in 1999 and worked mainly with the junior varsity, the team website said. He later coached the linemen for the junior varsity and varsity teams and co-ordinated the players’ college recruitment. He had a wife and a daughter, according to the biography.