Coach's death blamed on heat

No team can practice to avoid this type of loss.

When Mike Czerwien played football at Waynesburg University, he used his bowling ball frame of 5-8 and 225 pounds to terrorize quarterbacks, rolling past overmatched offensive linemen and registering sacks at a prolific rate. Czerwien was determined, powerful and passionate about the game. He seemed unstoppable.

That's why his death seems so unreal.

Czerwien, 25, who apparently suffered a heat-related problem, was taken by medical helicopter from Rices Landing, where he was doing construction Tuesday work for a local contractor. He died at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., at 7:22 p.m. Tuesday.

A spokeswoman with the West Virginia Medical Examiner's office said information about the cause of death would not be released. She said an autopsy has not been planned because it is "unnecessary in this case."

Czerwien was a graduate assistant coach at Waynesburg and his death stunned the university, especially those in the athletic department.

"He was a phenomenal young man," Waynesburg football coach and athletic director Rick Shepas said in a shaky voice Wednesday. "As with anyone in graduate school, any chance he had to work, he did. I got the call about 5:30 (Tuesday) and there were few details. I just knew they were life-flighting him. I was worried immediately."

Before receiving his degree two years ago, Czerwien carved out an outstanding playing career for the Yellow Jackets. In his senior season, Czerwien led all NCAA divisions with 2.1 sacks per game and 3.1 tackles for loss per game. He started all four years at Waynesburg and was a four-time first-team member on the All-PAC team.

During his time with the Yellow Jackets, the North Hills graduate racked up 273 tackles and 53.5 sacks, which is the NCAA all-divisions record.

"He was a tremendous young man," said Westminster football coach Jeff Hand, who recruited Czerwien when Hand was coach at Waynesburg. "My heart goes out to his family and the Waynesburg family. It's such a tremendous loss."

Czerwien was such a prolific player that opposing coaches designed offensive game plans for the opposite side of the field that Czerwien was on.

"He was a relentless player," said Washington & Jefferson football coach Mike Sirianni. "He just wouldn't quit. He played every play like it was his last. He's the best defensive lineman I've ever seen in our conference."

While coaches marveled at his skill level, those who knew him were impressed with his ability to work with other people.

"He had a huge heart," said Shepas. "He really wanted everything he did to mean something. He lived with that type of passion. He worked with that type of passion. He was one of those guys who come around once every 10 years. He was complete as a player and complete as a person."

Hand said an education was important to Czerwien and he aggressively worked to that end. He had one year remaining to finish his master's degree.

"He had such great leadership qualities," Hand said. "He was always joking and he wanted to enjoy his life and the people around him. He's among the best, if not the best, I've seen at the Division III level."

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