“We love you Coach Dawson,” said Cornell School District Superintendent Aaron Thomas in a statement to his community in Pennsylvania
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/Ed-Dawson-Cornell-practice-102526-388a18e9cbeb40a8b4ce5a3adf4470c1.jpg "Cornell head coach Ed Dawson looks on at his team in a drill during Cornell's heat acclimation practice Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025 at Frank Letteri Stadium in Coraopolis, Pa.")
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NEED TO KNOW
- High school football coach Ed Dawson died after suffering a medical emergency during a game in Pennsylvania on Oct. 23
- Dawson became unresponsive during the second quarter and was pronounced dead at a hospital, and his cause of death has not yet been released
- Dawson had been the head football coach at Cornell High School in Coraopolis, Penn., since 2011
A high school football coach in Pennsylvania died shortly after experiencing a medical emergency during a game.
Ed Dawson, head football coach at Cornell High School in Coraopolis, suffered a medical emergency during a game against Rochester High in Rochester, Penn., on Friday, Oct. 23, according to CBS News, ABC 4 and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Dawson was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the outlets. He was 55 years old, per the Post-Gazette.
Dawson’s cause of death has not yet been released.
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While speaking to Pittsburgh-area news outlet TribLive, Cornell High’s athletic director Bill Sacco, said that Dawson told an assistant coach he was not feeling well during the second quarter. Sacco said Dawson initially sat down on a nearby bench and then proceeded to lie down.
“Next thing you know, he wasn’t moving,” Sacco told the outlet.
He said that medical staff administered CPR to Dawson for several minutes before he was transported to the hospital.
Credit: Getty
In a statement to the community from Aaron Thomas, Cornell School District’s superintendent, obtained by ABC 4, Thomas said he was “saddened and shocked” to share news of Dawson’s passing.
“This is an extremely difficult situation,” Thomas said. “To say Coach Dawson was an integral part of Cornell School District would be an understatement.”
“It is hard to put into words what Coach Dawson means to Cornell and we are all heartbroken, crushed and in shock. We will work to ensure our students and staff have the resources they need and right now our thoughts and prayers are with Coach Dawson and his family. We have difficult days ahead and we will lean on each other to get through them the best we can,” he added.
“We love you Coach Dawson,” Thomas concluded his message.
Cornell School district did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In a statement obtained by CBS News, the superintendent for the Rochester Area School District, Joseph Guarino, said his district “sends our deepest condolences and prayers to the entire Cornell community and the family of Coach Dawson.”
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“The Cornell community and their football family have difficult days ahead and we will be there to support them in all that they need,” Guarino added.
Dawson had served as Cornell’s head football coach since 2011, according to the Post-Gazette.
