John Beam, a legendary football coach featured on Netflix’s “Last Chance U” and the Laney College athletic director, has died, one day after being shot on the Oakland, California campus, police announced.
At a news conference on Friday, Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell said that Beam died Friday morning. He was 66.
“We are devastated that John Beam, our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, coach, mentor and friend, has passed,” Beam’s family said in a statement that was read at the briefing.
Piedmont police chief Frederick Shavies, who knew Beam since he was in 8th grade, said at the news conference, “John was so much more than a coach. He was a father figure to thousands of not only men, but young women, in our community.”
The announcement was made hours after police said an arrest had been made in connection with the shooting. Police identified the suspect as 27-year-old Cedric Irving Jr.
Police said Irving was located by Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies at the San Leandro BART station around 3:15 a.m. on Friday. Assistant Police Chief James Beere said at a press conference Friday that a suspect weapon was recovered, and confirmed that the suspect knew Beam but did not have a relationship.
“This was a very targeted incident,” Beere told reporters without elaborating. “And I will say that Coach Beam, although they did not have a close relationship, was open to helping everybody in our community. And this is not uncommon for him to have a relationship with someone that he would think needs help. In this case, I can just tell you that the individual that was arrested went to the campus for a specific reason.”
Beere also said the suspect was known to have loitered on or around the campus and that investigators were still determining a motive. Beere added that the suspect once played high school football in the city of Oakland, but did not play for a team that Beam coached.
“He played football at Skyline High School, but not for coach Beam,” Beere said. “To the best of our knowledge, he was never a Laney student and did not work there.”
Beam was the former head football coach for the Laney College Eagles and gained national recognition in the Netflix docuseries “Last Chance U.” The fifth season of the series followed the Eagles during the 2019 season, and highlighted Beam’s lifelong influence on generations of young football players on and off the field. Beam’s program at Laney was also known for having over 90% of his players graduating or transferring to four-year schools.
Before coming to Laney College, Beam was the longtime head football coach for Oakland’s Skyline High School, leading the Titans to 15 league championships and four undefeated seasons.
“Coach Beam’s legacy isn’t measured in championships or statistics, even though they are great. It’s measured in the thousands of young people he believed in, mentored and refused to abandon, including my nephew while at Skyline High School,” Mayor Barbara Lee said Friday. “He gave Oakland’s youth their best chance, and he never stopped fighting for them.”
Among the estimated 2,500 players Beam has coached across decades are multiple current and former National Football League players, including Super Bowl champions and Pro Bowlers C.J. Anderson and Marvel Smith. Anderson posted a message on his social media, saying, “I love you Beamer Thank you Brother.”
Brothers Nahshon and Rejzhon Wright, who currently play for the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints, respectively, also posted their thoughts of Beam on social media Friday.
“You mean the world to me,” wrote Rejzhon Wright in one of his tributes to Beam on Instagram, followed by a broken heart emoji. Nahshon Wright posted a photo with Beam and the message, “Forever miss you.”
Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-Oakland) called Beam’s death “a deep loss for Oakland.”
“His impact reached far beyond sports. He gave young people confidence, structure, and a place to stand,” Simon said in a prepared statement. “Families trusted him because he showed up with discipline, care and a belief that every young person carried promise.
She added, “Gun violence has cut into our city again, and we cannot accept this as our future. We owe our people safety and a collective commitment to stop this harm.
