Football coach killed in boat crash off Florida coast. ‘He loved with his whole heart’

He lived a life “full of beautiful experiences.”

“He made us all feel seen and feel loved.”

“He marched to the beat of his own drum.”

Those were among the tributes to a northwest Florida high school football coach, who died in a boat crash Aug. 7.

Trey Pike, 36, was found dead near his vessel on the morning of August 7 in North Bay off Lynn Haven, Melissa Smith, spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, told McClatchy News.

Pike’s boat, a center console 24-foot NauticStar, had crashed into a concrete pylon holding a power line, she said. He was the only one on board.

Lynn Haven is about 6 miles north of Panama City.

Pike was named head football coach and athletic director for Vernon High School in June, according to Vernon High School Principal Brian Riviere. Before that, he served as a volunteer coach for a few years and worked as a teacher at Vernon Middle School.

Vernon is about 35 miles north of Panama City.

Friends remembered him on social media as a caring person who called to check in on his loved ones almost every evening.

“What will I do tomorrow when you don’t come by and say, “Hey, Boss Lady!” and I don’t get my phone call saying, “Hey, what’s up?” Niki Brock Seley, who identified herself as principal of Vernon Middle School, wrote on Facebook. “...he marched to the beat of his own drum and lived life to the fullest, every single day!!” she wrote. “He loved with his whole heart and he showed it, every single day!!”

Riviere shared a story on Facebook about the last time he saw Pike when the two had dinner at a yacht club. He wrote that when he handed Pike cash to help cover the bill, Pike gave it all to the waitress, who was an expecting mother, as a tip.

“Trey lived his life,” he wrote. “He traveled. He caught fish I’ve never heard of…. That dash between the day he was born and Sunday, August 8th(,) was full of beautiful experiences, laughs, and places he’s traveled that looked like something from a calendar.”

High school football teams from around the country shared their condolences for Pike’s loved ones, and the superintendent of the Washington County Schools, Joe Taylor, said in a video that counseling would be available for students, staff and community members affected by Pike’s death.

“This is a terrible situation that Vernon High School and the school district has found itself in,” he said. “And with the death of an (athletic director) also slash head football coach, that’s a very integral part of the school itself.”

Friends said they would remember him as a “great man” who teased them lovingly and never forgot about them.

“He was always there anytime I needed him,” AnnaBeth Troy Rackley wrote on Facebook “He would call his friends almost every evening to check on each one of us. He made us all feel seen and feel loved. I feel like any minute I’ll get a call and hear “Hey, Shug, what y’all doing?”

Alumni mourn high school coach’s unexpected death. ‘Taught me more than just sports’

Soccer player dies days after brawl on field, CA cops say. ‘My family is heartbroken’

17-year-old known for his ‘infectious smile’ is shot and killed in SUV, Ohio cops say