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Memories Of John Ware

If you would like to share a comment or story about coach John Ware, please email your memory to kwhite@truman.edu, along with your full name.

I was never a great athlete at Truman.  I can make excuses about multiple surgeries, being injury-prone, and having to work side jobs during the school year that kept me from reaching my athletic potential, but in the end, the weight room was where I excelled in college.  Coach Ware encouraged me to do my first internship as a strength coach at Georgia Tech when I was 21-years-old.  As I learned more about the strength & conditioning field, Coach Ware and I had many conversations debating philosophies of training, motivational strategies, and dealing with the college athlete.  

I learned how to be a college coach while still a college athlete, and Coach Ware tremendously helped that process.  He left Kirksville just before I accepted my graduate assistantship at South Dakota State, and now I’m the Assistant Director of Strength & Conditioning at Division I-AA Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN.  I never did speak with him after he left, but I can imagine he would be proud of how things turned out for me, and I just hope he knows how much I appreciated the time we spent talking about training

He would also let me lift during his morning weightlifting class so that I didn’t have to lift right before practice in the afternoons.  This may have been a small gesture on his part, but it was a big deal to me at the time.  He was always willing to work with people to try and accommodate everyone around him.  He made me feel comfortable and he was very approachable.  These are qualities I try to illustrate as a coach now, and I believe I am a better person and a better professional for having known him.

Bryan J. Jovick, C.S.C.S.

Many will remember John as a good coach, but many more will remember him also as a great person. Many young men have left his football program a better student, a better athlete, and a better person. In 2004, the Truman baseball team went to play at Missouri Southern and John and Melissa were both there to watch our conference games. After the games, both walked over to say hello and to offer congratulations. I will miss my friend.  

Lawrence Scully

Coach Ware and I came up through the ranks together, from foot soldiers to generals...so to speak. John was an honorable man, a genuine man.  He was the strongest man in the world! He was the same man every step of the way. Quite simply, he was a MAN in every complimentary connotation of the word. There was no fluff. No phoniness. No posturing. No posing. Just real, genuine integrity and quality of actions. He, along with his wife Melissa, made you feel good about being a Bulldog.

He was an exceptional evaluator of talent and personnel. His players' achievements speak for themselves. Forgotten, however, are the many fine assistant coaches that staffed the Truman sideline. Fine coaches, better people. He found them and brought them here to grace our campus, albeit for short tenures before someplace else would come and grab them away.

To know John is to look at his passion. The offensive line. Unheralded workers.    Intelligent and physical, physical and intelligent. Learn your job. Do your job.  Technique, teamwork, humility. With the job well done - fame and notoriety for others...selfless dedication for the team, for others...so to speak.

Thanks Coach Ware. We will miss you. For those of us that you have touched, we are better off for having known you.

Jack Schrader

My memories of John started as we both came to Truman in the same year, 1985.  Over the 19 years I worked with John I found that he not only was a skilled weight coach, offensive line coach and head coach but his abilities went far beyond the x's and o's of strength training and football. From the beginning, his leadership capabilities were so evident as he quietly lead his football players, classroom students and staff to higher levels of accomplishment with his intellect, his sincere care for his players, and for all with whom he came in contact. 

The coach/athletic trainer relationship that I had with John was the best I have experienced in my career. This gentle giant of a man was a unique figure in the sports world as he accomplished his goals through a quiet voice, thought provoking advice and an knack to allow people to see what they needed to do to succeed and gave them the tools and confidence to do so.

I will long remember John Ware.  It was truly my good fortune to have crossed his path and be influenced by his presence.

Clint Thompson, Retired Truman Head Athletic Trainer

My heart goes out to Melissa and the family of John Ware. John coached under my Dad at Truman/Northeast and was a great support when my Dad died. He and Melissa drove from Kirksville to St. Louis and back again in the same day just to come for my Dad's visitation. I'll never forget how special their efforts were to me and my family in our time of need. John's family and friends are in my prayers during this tragic time.

Kelley DeHeer (Jack Ball's daughter) & Family

I only played under Coach Ware for a few years, but learned a great deal from him about the game of football, about being a professional, and about the game of life. He was a true master of those things. If there's one just one thing I can say that symbolizes John Ware, it'd be this: not once did I ever hear anyone say a bad thing about him. Not a coach, a player, or anyone else. He was just that kind of man. No one would ever even think of it. I think that says a lot.

Matt Myers

Coach Ware was a person who would see something in a kid that most others wouldn't see.  But he believed in people, and wanted to give them an opportunity to prove themselves. He gave hope and opportunity to players when a lot of other coaches wouldn't take that chance. I thank him for that.

Aaron Speropoulos 

I knew Coach Ware since my first week on campus back in 1988. Over the years I got to know him much better than the giant on the sideline and I’d like to think that he considered me a true friend. I wish others could have known him they way I do. I have lost a true friend and my heart aches for his wife Melissa and the rest of his extended family.  

Coach Ware was the most intellectual big man I have ever met. He had enough knowledge of topics that he could have taught university level history, business, sociology, psychology and human potential and performance. He originally attended Drake with the intention of being a pharmacist. He changed to psychology as he realized his sincere hobby was studying human behavior rather than the physical science. He knew how to read people and take in a situation before speaking. You could see him in a crowd intently standing on the exterior listening to what others had to say, sizing them up before deciding how to approach the conversation or if he even wanted to take part in it.

His size and voice intimidated so many people that it was a shame. He was a very caring and concerned man who wanted to bring out the best in people. He rarely had to use his physical features to help inspire a team or an individual. Players wanted to do well because they knew he cared about them as a person more than anything.  That said, when he needed to raise his voice, it could be an intimidating as coach, general or world leader. His loyalty was undeniable. He had a passion for excellence and worked to instill that in others. If he had a fault he wanted to believe in the best of everyone and some times this came back to hurt him. 

I had the opportunity to see into his soul as he had the love of life that children have.  He loved to play figuratively and in actuality. He loved being behind a joke. He would drop in on websites and occasionally post under an alias. He loved the chances to bust chops on folks and didn’t mind taking those bustins as well. Watching his sometimes stoic face jump into a smile is a memory I won’t forget. His eyes would widen, his eyebrows raise, his cheeks jump up, ears ease back a few centimeters, mouth widen, teeth shine and then his deep laugh would arise.

Beyond his commitment to football John was committed to the entire athletic department. He was a fan of all of our teams. He attended more events in a year than most of our fans do and I’m sure he would have gotten to more if his schedule would have allowed him to. He loved sports and loved that connection to Truman. Beyond football he played basketball, baseball, and threw for track growing up. Those were a base of things he enjoyed. He attended Truman volleyball games, soccer games, wrestling meets, and just about everything else. He loved to see the Bulldogs win and he hurt like all true fans do when the teams didn’t do well or as didn’t do as well as they expected to do.

John was a magnificent man who left us too soon. I’m glad he had the opportunity to share his values and virtues with many others. The things I will miss most about him are his loyalty, his sense of humor, his understanding of situations and his belief of how good the world could be. The world is a lesser place without him.

B.J. Pumroy

Coach Ware was the only collegiate Coach who actively recruited me out of high school. I was undersized as a  high school linebacker, but Coach Ware saw past my appearance and judged my heart as a player. I played every play as hard as I could and Coach Ware recognized that. Needless to say I had an outstanding career at Truman, but more importantly received a great education and met my wonderful wife while at Truman. Had it not been for Coach Ware encouraging me to play at the D2 football level and giving me the confidence I needed to succeed, I would not be where I am today.

Hearing of Coach Ware's passing was tough news for me and many other former Bulldogs, but rest assure he will always remain in our thoughts and in our hearts.  Coach Ware was a powerful man, both physically and in the ability to influence others--and his influence will continue to shape Bulldogs who had the honor of getting to play for him.

Derek Kent

Thanks for everything Coach Ware. I will miss you big guy!

 Justin Bever