When Damon Owens met football coach John Beam, he was a flailing sophomore at Oakland’s Skyline High School on the verge of dropping out. But the now-52-year-old credits Beam for changing the course of his life by giving him an opportunity to be part of something bigger than himself.
“Most young people, all they need is a chance, and they also need a support structure around it, around the potential,” Owens told NBC News. “He saw potential in me that I didn’t see myself, but he also surrounded us with the necessary support in order to galvanize that potential and grow it.”
Beam died on Friday, succumbing to his injuries after a shooting at Laney College in Oakland, California, officials said. Authorities arrested 27-year-old Cedric Irving in connection with the fatal attack. Oakland Assistant Police Chief James Beere said the two men knew each other, but he did not elaborate on their connection.
Owens was traveling back from a conference in Texas when he saw news of the shooting. Calling the tragedy “surreal,” he said he teared up on the plane ride home, hoping doctors would be able to save Beam by the time he landed.
He spoke to Beam recently in a call he described as the two men just checking in on each other. Beam congratulated Owens on his success as a pastor and a business owner, asking him to come speak to his students sometime.
Owens had never really played football before Beam. The coach allowed him to try out for the varsity team his junior year, which led Owens to winning a championship and eventually attending a junior college.
“I was proud for him to be my coach,” Owens said. “I bragged about him a lot, and those principles that he shared, or that I will call core values, I still use today.”
Those values were on full display in Season 5 of Netflix’s “Last Chance U,” a series showcasing football teams at smaller schools that don’t often get the attention or resources of larger university programs. Laney College was featured in 2020, giving the world a glimpse into one of Beam’s last seasons as head coach. He stepped down in 2024, ending a 45-year coaching career to become the athletic director at Laney.
“Last Chance U” creator Greg Whiteley wrote in a post on X that the show’s team was shocked to hear of Beam’s death.
“Filming with him at Laney College gave us a firsthand look at his passion, his integrity, and his unwavering commitment to the young men he coached — and to the city of Oakland,” Whiteley said.
An emotional clip from the show resurfaced online after Beam’s death. It showed Beam comforting player Rejzohn Wright after a traumatic ankle injury during a game, with Beam hugging Wright as he cried and told his coach that he was scared.
“I know, but don’t be. You’ll be fine,” Beam told him. “You’ll be fine. You’ll bounce back, right? You’re all right, you’re good. You got your whole future ahead of you, right?”
Wright, now a cornerback for the New Orleans Saints, shared a photo of Beam on social media with the caption, “You mean the world to me.”
Rejzohn Wright’s brother, Chicago Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright, wrote on X that Beam was there for his brother and him after their father was fatally shot.
“I’m glad I was able to speak with you one last time before this happened,” he wrote, adding that he would love Beam forever.
During the Bears’ game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Nahshon Wright appeared emotional after making a critical interception in the end zone to keep the Vikings from scoring. He fell to his knees seconds after catching the ball in a poignant moment that commentators speculated was due to his grief over losing Beam.
Tributes to Beam poured in on social media, including one from former Laney College running back Bryce Grandison. Grandison, 28, told NBC News that he was just one of thousands of young men who were shaped by Beam.
Grandison, who now lives in the Atlanta area, said he was grateful to be able to form a relationship with Beam while he played in 2015 and 2016. In his very last game as a Laney College Eagle, Grandison said, Beam called a play just so he could score a touchdown before he left the team.
“And that was, you know, a really huge moment for me that I appreciate,” Grandison said. “And I’ll never forget it. ... He saw me, he believed in me, and that definitely showed his kind of love for all of his players, not just me.”
As someone who grew up in Oakland, Grandison says he hurts for the loss of such a community pillar. There were generations of people uplifted by Beam who then went on to get degrees in part because of a coach who took the time to look at their individual needs, he said.
“I just think about the fact that he truly was there for everybody in a different way,” Grandison said. “And if he can call somebody, if he can make a phone call for you, if he can reach out to someone for you, that’s what he was willing to do.”
Clarence Hawkins, 53, received one of those critical phone calls at a time when he needed it most. He was a senior at Skyline High School in Beam’s first season as head coach, winning a championship and going on to play at Laney himself.
A few years after graduating in 1989, Hawkins said he lost his best friend and former teammate Maurice Smith as well as another friend just 24 hours apart.
“I tell my kids all the time, Coach Beam saved my life,” Hawkins said. “When I lost Mo, I was lost because he was like a brother to me. And I started drinking real heavy. I started smoking a lot of weed.”
It was Beam who called to pull Hawkins out of his spiral, asking him to come back to Skyline to help coach a new batch of young players.
“At that time in my life, I needed Beam,” Hawkins said. “And he knew I needed somebody.”
Hawkins is a father to three adult children, owns a catering business in Texas, and recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree from seminary school. The lessons of tenacity and accountability Beam taught him are values he taught his own children.
He remained in touch with Beam, even flying back to Oakland for the coach’s retirement party. Being able to celebrate Beam while he was still alive is something Hawkins said he leans on in these dark days since the coach’s death.
“The amount of people that came to that celebration was unbelievable,” Hawkins said. “I mean, it was standing-room only in there — and not just us as football players, just even the women, the girls that he had an impact on their lives. It was, it was just amazing.”
