For 21 years, LO coach with ALS motivates players

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. (KOIN) — For the past 21 years, Jeff Young has been an assistant coach with the Lake Oswego High School football team, the school he graduated from in 1980.

But while he was a student at the University of Oregon, Young was diagnosed with ALS, the devastating disease that weakens muscles and impacts physical function and speech. That hasn’t stopped him from becoming a motivational coach and writer.

In fact, said Lake Oswego Head Coach Steve Coury, “the one guy who’s probably influenced these kids more than anybody is Coach Young.”

Through a translator, Young said the disease worked very slowly with him. Most people diagnosed with ALS live 3-5 years. But this past October was the 40th anniversary of his diagnosis.

Young, who played high school football, was determined to not listen to doomsayers and instead forged his own path. He began writing daily messages of inspiration that are now shared on his website, Young with Heart.

Impressed by his words, Coury added Young to the team as a motivational coach in 2004. “The influence he’s had on our young men is what this program is all about,” he said.

Every years there is a special All Red Week when Lake Oswego athletes wear red to raise money for Coach Young’s extensive medical costs. This year, All Red Week is the week of October 21.

Young also attends the Tuesday sessions in the locker room, where coaches read a message Young prepared for the team based on what transpired in the past week. It’s something that sticks with the Lakers players even as they move to college football and beyond.

In a testimonial on Young’s website, University of Idaho quarterback Jack Layne told Young he “just wanted to say thank you for everything you’ve done for me in my life. The impact you had on me as a kid who went through adversity in high school and the perspectives you gave.”

Jeff Young recently checked off a life goal when he visited with the University of Oregon football team and listened as Coach Dan Lanning read his message to the players about living in the present and facing adversity.

He also became an ambassador for Chris Dudley’s Live Heads Up program, which promotes living your best life. And Young has some other big name friends in his corner, including his childhood friend, KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer.

Thayer hopes people will continue to support Young in his journey, which includes fully understanding what is happening around him even as he is trapped in a body that can’t move.

Through the translator, Young said ALS is the toughest disease because your mind is fully functioning but your body has stopped cooperating.

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