Drew Gibbs was preparing to lead his 10-1 Ramapo HS (NJ) team into a championship game this Friday against Northern Highlands, but he sadly will not get the opportunity to see it through.
Gibbs, who has led the Ramapo HS program for the past 21 seasons, passed this morning. He was experiencing chest pains at practice yesterday, according to Patrick Lanni of NJ.com, and was rushed to the hospital.
At the hospital, a tear in his aortic valve was discovered, which prompted emergency surgery.
Gibbs passed this morning as a result of complications from that surgery.
In his over two decades leading the program, Gibbs built Ramapo into a New Jersey power, capturing seven sectional titles and the last two Group 3 Regional titles. Over the past four seasons, the program had lost just four games total and Gibbs took home the State Coach of the Year title in 2019.
Earlier in 2019, Gibbs was instrumental in the state of New Jersey adopting limits on full-contact practices, becoming one of the first in the country to do so.
He had a career record of 183-51 at the school.
The status of their Section 1, Group 4 championship game on Friday has not yet been decided.
Gibbs was just 59 years old.
Please join us in praying for the family of coach Gibbs during this difficult time.