Funeral services for Eagle’s Landing head football coach Joe Teknipp will be held Saturday at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in his hometown of Mentor, Ohio.
Teknipp, who was 47, died on July 4 after being diagnosed with stomach cancer earlier this year. Several hundred fans attended a vigil on Sunday evening at Eagle’s Landing’s football field.
Teknipp led Eagle’s Landing to 8-3 records and state-playoff appearances each of the past two seasons, easily the best two-year run in school history that dates to 1992. His first Eagle’s Landing team, in 2008, finished 6-5 after a winless season the year before.
"He's still with us,'' Eagle's Landing senior quarterback Van Heflin Jr. told the Henry Herald newspaper. "I say that because of how he's taught us and how he's influenced us and what he would want us to do. He'd want us to keep pushing. He'd want us to be the best we can be and play to the best of our abilities. I don't see anything slowing us down. If anything, from this point going forward we'll be greater than we ever could have been.''
Teknipp’s son, Tyler, is a defensive back on Georgia Tech’s football team. His daughter, Caitlin, is a discus thrower on West Georgia’s track and field team. Joe Teknipp played football in the late 1980s at Kent State, where his wife, Jennifer, was a cheerleader.
