Mo. Southern head coach dies at 46

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Second-year Missouri Southern football coach John Ware died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack after collapsing at his desk.

Ware, 46, was discovered in his office after 10 a.m. Another coach gave him CPR until he was rushed to a hospital, where he died, the school reported in a news release.

"He had a huge heart ... he just had a connection with his players from the get-go," Missouri Southern center Jason Stumbo told The Morning Sun in Pittsburg, Kan. "He taught me more than things on the football field. He taught me stuff that I can use later in life."

The cause of death was not immediately known, but Jasper County coroner Jerry Neil told The Joplin Globe that Ware died of apparent heart failure. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday.

Keeth Matheny, an assistant coach who will step in as head coach, said Ware had experienced heart problems in the past.

"I love John Ware," Matheny said. "And like all the guys I'm grieving, but I'm also grieving the loss of one of my best friends, if not my best friend."

On Saturday, the Division II Lions (2-3) are scheduled to host Truman State, the school Ware coached for nine years before going to Missouri Southern.

"I think that's a strange irony that we're playing Truman State," said Sallie Beard, the Lions athletics director. "Aside from Joplin, there isn't anyplace else on the face of the earth that will be more touched and more impacted than Kirksville and the Truman State campus by the loss of John Ware."

The Lions will wear a patch on their helmets with Ware's initials, as well a symbol of "1 percent."

"Because he believed the way you become a giant of a man like he was by getting 1 percent better every day," Matheny said.

An offensive lineman at Drake, Ware signed with the San Francisco 49ers and played in four exhibition games before being cut.

Ware also was a five-time U.S. Senior National Powerlifting champion and the 1991 world powerlifting champion, according to the university's Web site.

Before joining the Truman staff, Ware coached one season at Ottumwa High School in Iowa, where he was an all-state offensive lineman.

Ware is survived by his wife, Melissa, who previously served as sports information director at Truman State.

Funeral arrangements were pending.