Beloved Stanford athlete dies at 26
Cause of death not yet revealed for Hoffpauir
Zach Hoffpauir, a twosport athlete at Stanford who earned allPac12 recognition as a safety and was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks during his college career, died Thursday at 26.
Hoffpauir’s dad, Doug, confirmed his son’s death to the Arizona Republic, but did not reveal a cause. The Maricopa County (Ariz.) Medical Examiner’s database included Hoffpauir, but a report was not finished and it did not list a cause of death as of Friday afternoon.
Hoffpauir, who was from Glendale, Ariz., was hired in February as the safeties coach at Northern Colorado by head coach Ed McCaffrey. Hoffpauir was close friends
with McCaffrey’s son, Christian, an AllAmerican at Stanford who is an AllPro running back for the Carolina Panthers.
On Friday, Christian McCaffrey, on his Instagram account, posted a picture of Hoffpauir and began his message by writing, “Yesterday, Heaven gained an angel, and I lost one of my best friends in the world.”
Another Stanford teammate, 49ers defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, said on Instagram that he’d, “Never met someone who could connect to everyone on such a personal level. Your energy was infectious. Forever thankful for you. I love you, Zach.”
Ed McCaffrey, on Twitter, said he was “devastated” and noted Hoffpauir was close with all four of his sons.
“He was a like a brother to our boys and had recently found his calling as our safeties coach,” he wrote.
Hoffpauir had 101 tackles in 50 games (11 starts) over a fouryear career in which Stanford won three Pac12 titles and two Rose Bowls. In 2014, as a junior, he was named a Pac12 honorablemention selection.
Hoffpauir was selected in the 22nd round of the Major League Baseball draft in 2015. He played two seasons in the minors, in 2015 and 2018, and hit .224 with three home runs and nine RBIs in 107 atbats in rookie and ClassA ball. Hoffpauir hit .295 with 11 home runs and 58 RBIs at Stanford and was a Pac12 honorable mention pick in 2015.
He didn’t play football at Stanford in 2015 and returned for his senior season in 2016.