Post Falls High football coach Jeff Hinz dies following long battle with cancer

Jeff Hinz will be remembered not only as a football coach and a man who bravely fought cancer for nearly three years, but also as someone who touched countless lives as a teacher, mentor and friend,

Hinz, head football coach at Post Falls High for the past 11 seasons, died Wednesday night at Hospice of North Idaho in Coeur d’Alene following a long battle with non-smokers lung cancer.

He was 45.

“He was a warrior,” Post Falls athletic director Craig Christensen said. “He battled. To make it as long as he did shows how much strength and determination he had. He was a great coach, a great family man, father. He was a great friend. He’s going to be missed greatly by many.”

Hinz taught social studies, and coached football at Post Falls High for 22 years.

Christensen, entering his 15th year as AD at Post Falls, was part of the hiring team when Hinz, a Coeur d’Alene High graduate, was promoted from assistant coach to head coach in 2005.

“When I hired him I thought, ‘Here’s a guy that’s going to be exactly what we want in our program, which is someone that’s got character, is going to be a student-centered coach ... he wasn’t necessarily just worried about preparing them for the next level of football, but the next level of life. That’s right in our philosophy; we want someone who’s going to put academics and character first, and he was always at the forefront of that. There was never a worry with me of him doing the right thing, and teaching kids the right way. And that’s huge to have as a coach. Obviously the wins were important, but he understood the importance of the other things, too.”

Hinz was diagosed with cancer after he suffered a broken leg when his left leg gave out on Thanksgiving Day 2013. Doctors found a tumor in his leg, and in his lung.

“If you do the math -- 30 kids an hour, five hours a day, 150 kids over 22 years, and probably 150 kids in the football program over 22 years, that’s a lot of kids that he had a positive impact on their lives,” said Chris Sensel, who has been in the Post Falls School District for 20 years, and is entering his third year as principal at Post Falls High.

Hinz coached when he could the past two years. Last season, he missed a couple of games; other times, he coached from the press box, or from a wheelchair on the sideline.

“He was always good at the Xs and Os, but I tell you what, being able to build relationships, and instill the character, and have lifelong connections with them ... after the kids leave, when they come back, they always contact him,” Christensen said. “He’s always had that relationship with the kids that, even after they were done playing for him, they want to be part of his life, too. And they want him to be part of their life. That just shows you how much effect he had on kids. Jeff was great at getting those kids across that finish line.”

“His battle with cancer was unbelievable,” Sensel said. “He scheduled chemo around football, and making sure he could get to work on time. (Two years ago) He would take chemo on a Friday so he could make the game on time Friday night. Then he’d deal with the sickness on Saturday and Sunday, and he’d be back to work on Monday. He got through a school year like that; that was his game plan. And it worked. He coached and he taught, all year.”

With Hinz ailing, Blaine Bennett, an assistant on last year’s staff, was named interim coach earlier this spring.

“It’s tough on the coaches here, and the teachers here too,” Christensen said. “He had an effect on everybody. He was a great friend, teacher, coach, and he affected a lot of lives. And it wasn’t just the athletes -- it was his staff, his fellow teachers. It was everybody.”