Longtime coach Ted Knapp dies of heart attack

ALBANY — Longtime football coach Ted “Rock” Knapp passed away on Monday of an apparent heart attack, The Albany Herald has learned.

Knapp, who came to Albany in 2007-08 to take over as football coach at Sherwood Christian Academy, had battled against terminal cancer which cut short his coaching career.

He and his wife, Shari, lived in Atlanta, according to his Facebook page that was full of condolence posts Monday morning.

“He fought different than most,” Melanie Renee Hall Carter posted. “He fought with the sword of the Spirit! When I saw an opposing team playing jump on one of SCA’s students, he yelled from the sidelines ‘Walk away like a man!!!’ Our boys went over, reached in, picked (up and) helped that young man out of the trouble, brushed him off and they walked away! This man of Faith and Good character will forever be missed. I am praying for his family at this time.”

Knapp, the former Albany Herald Coach of the Year, wrote his first book, “The Great Adventures of Sparky the Angel,” nearly three years ago. The book is a fictional story that captured the journey of a teenage boy with leukemia who is visited by an angel that takes him on a memorable journey.”

The football coach wrote several more books, including an autobiography called “Bury Me With My Whistle” and was known by many friends for his motivational speeches and videos he often posted on social media.

Former Sherwood headmaster Glen Schultz hired Knapp to be Sherwood’s football coach. He said Knapp’s faith, drive and determination impressed him.

“He was dedicated to the Lord and to his family,” Schultz said. “He was a great family person. Whatever task he took on, he always poured his heart into it.”

Knapp, 58, told The Herald three years ago that he had plenty of information to write books until he was 60.

“I’ve got stories that will make you cry, things that will make you laugh out loud, and things that will motivate you,” he said.

Funeral services are pending.