JOPLIN, MO. Former Drake standout football player John Ware died Tuesday morning of apparent heart failure.
Ware, 46, was in his second year as head football coach at Missouri Southern. Ware taught an early morning class, then returned to his office, staff members said. He was said to have been found slumped over his desk.
Those who found him made efforts to resuscitate him, said Jasper County Coroner Jerry Neil. Ware was taken to Freeman Hospital West in Joplin, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Ware was a three-year starting offensive tackle for Drake in 1978, 1979 and 1980. He earned first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors as a senior in 1980 and played in the 1981 Blue-Gray All-Star game. He later signed a free agent contract with the San Francisco 49ers.
Ware played on Drake football teams, under Coach Chuck Shelton, which won football games at Colorado in 1979 (13-9) and 1980 (41-22).
Ware is survived by his wife, Melissa. Funeral arrangements are pending
"John Ware loved the game of football, but it was merely a vehicle for him to have an impact on young men," said Sallie Beard, Missouri Southern athletics director.
"He was a man with a vision, and that vision was beginning to come clear to our community and our campus. It was almost palpable, the impact that he had in just a short period of time, less than two years."
In his first season, Ware led Missouri Southern to a 5-6 record, which featured a record-breaking offense, ever-larger home crowds and a growing enthusiasm for the program. The Lions are 2-3 at the midway point of the current season.
"The attitude and atmosphere on this campus have been transformed because of his leadership," Beard said during a Tuesday news conference. "He had a vision, and his players have bought into that.
"After just leaving a team meeting, I'm confident that the players and staff are completely committed to seeing to it that the John Ware legacy will live a long time on our campus."
Ironically, Missouri Southern will play its homecoming game Saturday against Truman State University. Ware coached at Truman State from 1985, when he was a graduate assistant, through 2003. He was the Bulldogs' head coach for nine seasons.
A ceremony recognizing Ware's 21 years as a college coach will be held before the Truman State game.
Ware was a massive man, a five-time U.S. senior national powerlifting champion.
"He was very bright, very articulate, an unbelievable gentle giant," said Keeth Matheny, the Missouri Southern offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. Matheny had served on the Truman State staff and rejoined Ware with the Lions.
"He had an unbelievable faith in the people around him," Matheny said. "He always believed in the people around him in every way. Every day, he went out believing that each guy was going to be successful and each coach was going to be successful. He was an enabler. He made you believe that anything was possible and that you were the person to do it.
"John was a visionary, and nothing deterred him from where he was headed."
Ware also understood that football was not always priority No. 1.
"Last Saturday, (actually Sept. 17), John Ware allowed his football team to work busy intersections within our city, raising money for the (Hurricane) Katrina relief fund," Beard said.
"It happened to be the Pittsburg State game day. I don't know very many head coaches, with the kind of pressure he received for that particular game, who would have allowed their teams to be out in the community raising money on game day.
"That speaks volumes of the man."
"Aside from Joplin, there isn't any place else ... that will be more impacted than Kirksville, and the Truman State campus, by the loss of John Ware," added Beard.
The Lions will wear patches on their helmets with Ware's initials. There will also be a 'one percent' on the patch.
"He believed the way you become a giant of a man, as he was, is by getting one percent better every day," said Matheny.
Beard was attending a meeting in Kansas City when she learned that Ware had collapsed in his office and was being rushed to the hospital. After a hurried trip back to the Southern campus, she met with the staff and players prior to the press conference.
"I talked to them a little bit about the promise that's made between coaches and players," she said of the meeting. "I told them that coach Ware had the vision and that they needed to commit themselves to that legacy ... and the actions that John Ware had put in place."
Matheny said he was grieving not only the loss of a fellow coach, but a close personal friend.
"That does not change (the fact that) there are five games remaining," Matheny said. "Those are five opportunities to make a great man proud, make a statement as to his legacy and what he's done. ...
"The No. 1 goal of this program is to be a Missouri Southern graduate and we encouraged our guys in the meeting that (today) they will be at every class, and they will do everything they can to respect what coach Ware would want, both in the classroom and on the field."
