Beloved Penn-Trafford football coach dies

CBS News

5 days ago

A beloved high school football coach in Westmoreland County died over the weekend.
TJ Detruf died at his home Saturday in Hempfield. He was 41 years old.
Detruf was an assistant coach for the Penn-Trafford freshman football team and a former quarterback at Jeannette High School.
"That's a small town where everybody really takes pride in their guys, and you can tell he was beloved in Jeannette," said Penn-Trafford head coach John Ruane, who said he's heard from coaches across the WPIAL since the weekend. "It's devastating to a lot of people that this guy worked with.
"TJ was a really good person first and foremost, and we hope he gets memorialized as a father and a great husband first because that's what he was."
Detruf's son, Dom, is a three-year starter at quarterback at Hempfield, and head coach Nick Keefer says TJ's legacy lives on in the player Dom has become on the field.
"TJ wasn't just Dom's dad. He was a coach, a man, and a leader that touched everyone he was around and had an impact on," Keefer said. "He poured his heart into this game we love and into his son every day, and that shows the way Dom carries himself with high character, strength and love for his teammates."
Keefer says the Hempfield community is rallying around Dom and his family, but the surrounding communities have joined in with their support as well.
"I think that's the biggest thing that you see in Westmoreland County and even in the Pittsburgh area, the football community is when people rally together," he said.
The Penn-Trafford football boosters are collecting donations to support the Detruf family through a QR code posted on the group's Facebook page. The Hempfield football team, cheerleaders and band are hosting a spirit night on Wednesday at Millie's Homemade Ice Cream on South Pennsylvania Avenue in Greensburg.
"We have three communities behind us, and we're going to be all right," Dom said. "My mom's strong. I'm all right."