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All of them prayed for the best after learning that the Ramapo High School coach and teacher was hospitalized with chest pains following practice on Monday.
Gibbs, who was eagerly anticipating another regional championship game this Friday, died Tuesday morning. He was 59.
“I am devastated this morning by the sudden passing of the amazing, caring man I had the joy of calling my brother,” Geoff Gibbs posted soon after. “I am at a complete loss for words to describe the pain and profound sense of loss in my soul.”
“We lost a great husband, father, coach and friend this morning,” Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano tweeted. “Coach Gibbs was a champion who helped countless young men reach their full potential in life."
Gibbs, of Wyckoff, died from complications during emergency surgery for an aortic valve tear at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, district officials said.
"Coach Gibbs was a respected and beloved faculty member and a pillar in our community who commanded respect from everyone,” Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District Superintendent Dr. Rui Dionisio wrote in a letter to the community. “He was a fierce competitor and a polite, kind gentleman who was always a class act.”
Crisis and bereavement counselors and other support were available, the superintendent said.
"We will make every effort to help you and your child as you need,” he promised.
Gibbs, who'd headed the Green Raiders since 2001, was one of the New Jersey’s most successful athletic coaches of any kind.
Under his guidance, Ramapo went 183-51, winning seven sectional titles in addition to the last two North Jersey Group 3 regional championships – while losing only three games in his last four seasons.
That included back-to-back 13-0 seasons in 2018 and 2019.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association called Gibbs “an educator, a mentor, and a role model. [O]ur condolences go out to all who knew, loved, and were inspired by Coach Gibbs."
“He was a true gridiron icon in New Jersey,” the Super Football Conference administration said in a statement, calling it “probably impossible to overestimate his positive influence as a teacher, leader, and mentor.”
Words of love and loss continued to mount as the heartbreaking news spread far beyond the Franklin Lakes school.
“In shock over this tremendous loss to our community,” wrote Ridgewood native Damian Ross of Saddle River. “I had the unique opportunity to be coached by Drew and to coach with Drew… I’ve known him since I was 16…
“Drew is one of the few people who have the big three - knowledge, compassion and moral compass,” Ross added. “If you or your child played for him, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
“There are only a handful of coaches… human beings, who have all of these gifts.”
Funeral arrangements hadn’t yet been announced.
Nor was the status immediately clear for the 10-1 Ramapo team’s scheduled North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 sectional final against Northern Highlands this Friday.
Parents said Gibbs’s players were assembled for a private team meeting early Tuesday, after which they were given the option of staying at school or going home.
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