When Damon Owens met football coach John Beam, he was a flailing sophomore at Oakland’s Skyline High School on the verge of dropping out. But the now-52-year-old credits Beam for changing the course of his life by giving him an opportunity to be part of something bigger than himself.

“Most young people, all they need is a chance, and they also need a support structure around it, around the potential,” Owens told NBC News. “He saw potential in me that I didn’t see myself, but he also surrounded us with the necessary support in order to galvanize that potential and grow it.”

Beam died on Friday, succumbing to his injuries after a shooting at Laney College in Oakland, California, officials said. Authorities arrested 27-year-old Cedric Irving in connection with the fatal attack . Oakla

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