APSU Coach: ‘We were blessed to have him for the time we did’
Vigil held at Austin Peay football stadium for Governors’ football player who died in a crash on Friday night.
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Friends and family remembered Jeremiah Collins at a vigil at Austin Peay State University on Tuesday.
Collins, a freshman football player at Austin Peay, crashed and died Friday night on Briley Parkway. Metro Police said he tried to take an exit too quickly. His car rolled over, and he died at the hospital.
Collins, 18, was a recent graduate from Oakland High School in Murfreesboro. He signed to play football for Austin Peay for the upcoming season. The athletics department announced Collins’ death on its website on Saturday.
Scotty Walden, the Governors’ head football coach, said Collins made a huge impact at the university in a short amount of time.
“He was such a dynamic person. He’s the kind of guy who walks in the room and it lights up,” Walden said. “He was a winner in every facet of the word. We were so blessed to have him for the time we did.”
Walden said the Governors will play this season in honor of Collins.
Collins had been a star football player for Male High School in Louisville, Kentucky, before transferring to Oakland for his senior season.
Visitation with family will be Wednesday from 2 to 6 p.m. at Woodfin Memorial Chapel in Murfreesboro. A funeral service will be held at 6 p.m.
Visitation with family and friends in Kentucky will be Friday from 10 a.m. to noon with burial to follow at Calvary Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.
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