Just one day after announcing it would honor Bill Walsh in an historic way, the former Holy Spirit football coach died Friday morning at his Galloway home.
A 1985 graduate and head football coach from 2003-2007, Walsh died after battling Lou Gehrig's disease - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known more as ALS. He was diagnosed in early 2016.
"The atmosphere around here is ... This is my 10th year in education and coaching longer than that, he meant a lot to a lot of people. He meant a lot to the school and our community," said Dennis Smith, the school's Dean of Students.
"It's a big blow."
Walsh was 52.
“Adapt. Adjust. Overcome. That’s what he taught us. That’s what we will do. He was the ultimate Spartan. He touched all of us, he made us all better," athletic director Steve Normane said via text.
The Holy Spirit football staff announced Thursday that it would honor Walsh by putting two logos on their helmets - one side featuring the Spartan mascot, with No. 16 on the other. Walsh wore that number as a player at Holy Spirit and it was retired last summer.
It’s the first time in program history that the helmet will have a logo.
"We decided as a staff to do a little something different to honor Bill because he's such a huge part of Holy Spirit. It's not just football. He's done so many things for the kids who have walked through the doors," head coach A.J. Russo said Thursday afternoon.
"We decided on No. 16 and the Spartan logo. It was great for one game, but Bill means so much more than one game's worth. So, we decided to have it for our playoff run. Hopefully it's more than just two games."
Smith said Friday's game against visiting St. Mary (Ruth.) in the NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics Non-Public, Group 2 playoffs would go on as scheduled.
“We told the kids to go out and play the way he would expect,” Smith said. "It’s hard to put it in the back of your mind, but we told them to go out and conduct themselves the way he would have expected.
“He rebuilt the football program into the power that it is now when he became the head coach. He directed the team at Rutgers to its first state championship in 2007 (going 12-0 en route to the Non-Public, Group 3 title) and this team has the same chance in 2019.”
Kevin Minnick focuses on the WJFL and can be reached at kminnick@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @kminnicksports. Like NJ.com HS sports on Facebook.