San Jose high school football coach, former semi-pro player, dies of cancer at age 38

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA. – An assistant football coach at Gunderson High School in San Jose has died after battling cancer. Chris Ruane died at the end of last month at the age of 38. Now the team remembers him in a special way.

Ruane’s love for football led him to Gunderson High School four years ago. Coaches say he was the glue that held the team together, and even though he had no children, he treated the players as if they were his own.

Football practice took place Monday at Gunderson High School’s James Jones Field. The Grizzlies have playoff hopes and head coach Jason Harrison says that’s something they want to achieve, especially after losing Ruane to cancer last month.

“The kids understand what we’re playing for and who we’re playing for, and I think that showed on Friday night,” Harrison said.

Harrison says he met Ruane in 2010 when both were playing semi-pro football. He says he hired his old teammate to coach at Gunderson four years ago and just a few years later Ruane was diagnosed with cancer.

“At first we all thought you would be fine. You will be fine, and then we notice a lack of energy. We noticed weight loss,” Harrison said.

Ruane lost his battle with cancer on September 29th. At his memorial service, coaches and players were presented with a lanyard with Ruane’s photo. Now Gunderson coaches wear pins at every game and some players wear the logos of Ruane’s former teams during practice.

“These guys looked up to this guy. He was a mentor, more than a coach. He would give any of those guys his jersey,” said Gunderson High School special teams football coach Neil Duffy-Smith.

Duffy-Smith says Ruane kept the entire team on track. Ruane also founded the California Buckeyes adult minor league team while coaching at Gunderson High. In 2021, he won a championship as a player with the semi-pro team Cap City Fury from Sacramento, showing his players that they can win too.

“The man they looked up to did the same things he did when he was their age. That really helped them settle in and think, OK, the coach was just one of us,” Duffy-Smith said.

The Grizzlies also say they will use the hashtag #LLCC – Long Live Coach Chris on social media for the remainder of the season.