Kingwood Park High School football coach Eric Coovert is cancer-free. He announced the incredible news during an emotional speech to his team prior to their dominant win on Thursday night.
Coovert, a Texas A&M graduate, is a history teacher by day, and a new father. His students often call him coach, and he cares deeply for them. They are the reason that he wakes up in the morning.
Kingwood Park yearbook editor Katie Gerbasich offered a fantastic description of Mr. Coovert the teacher.
Coovert’s teaching can best be described as productive rambling. With his coffee mug in hand, he can talk for an entire class period. While most of the conversation is about his dog or capitalism, he manages to bring fun to history topics with random tidbits or dry jokes you can’t help but laugh at.
Not paying attention isn’t an option as seeing his facial expression is half the fun. Everyday you can walk away from his class having learned something […]
He tries to greet everyone as they walk in the door and the second the bell rings comes in and hollers “Good Morning.”
— Katie Gerbaisch, via the KP Times
She also spoke to his love for coaching high school football and wrestling.
When sitting in his class you are never able to forget that he is a coach. He watches freshman football film while we work on assignments and always tells stories about how proud or annoyed he is of them.
Then come wrestling season, he offers extra credit if they do well. He had to walk away during one of his athletes winning the State Championships because he was “too emotional.”
— Katie Gerbaisch, via the KP Times
That’s the kind of guy that Eric Coovert is. His students look forward to his class. His athletes look forward to practice.
More importantly, he looks forward to teaching and coaching his students and athletes.
Coovert has been battling cancer over the last few months and had to take some time away from school and from the gridiron. By the grace of God, that is no longer the case.
He spoke to the Panthers prior to their game last week and made a big announcement.
I got a call from my doctor and I’ve gone 1-0 against cancer!
— Coach Eric Coovert
His team went absolutely bonkers. It was a deeply emotional moment.
To make it even more special, Kingwood’s head coach dedicated the game to coach Coovert before they took the field. The Panthers went out and beat Lee High School 45-10 in his honor.
We all need someone like Eric Coovert in our lives. He continues to inspire our youth, in the same way that they inspired him to beat cancer.
Some things are bigger than sports. This is one of those things!