Second Football Coach Dies Suddenly at Same Florida High School

A Florida high school football program is mourning its second coach in less than six months after a 31-year-old assistant suddenly died after losing consciousness on campus.

Quintavis Styles, an assistant coach at Gainesville High School, died Sept. 29 after suffering a medical emergency inside the school’s administration offices.

School officials said Styles lost consciousness before classes began. A school nurse and emergency medical crews responded before he was transported to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville.

Despite efforts to save him, Styles died at the hospital.

The Alachua County medical examiner’s office confirmed his death, but a cause had not been determined.

The tragedy is especially painful for Gainesville High because Styles is the second member of its football coaching staff to die this year.

Junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant George “Rick” Rone died April 7 at age 56, just one day before the Hurricanes were scheduled to begin spring practice.

Rone was a Gainesville native, Gainesville High graduate and longtime educator who had returned to his alma mater as a teacher and football coach.

Styles had been with the Hurricanes for only about three months, but school officials said he had already developed close relationships with players.

“Coach Styles only joined us three months ago, but I feel incredibly bad for our kids to have to go through this again,” Gainesville High athletic director Phillip Knight said following his death.

Knight said the players were being given time away from football to process another devastating loss.

Styles had several responsibilities within the program. He served as offensive coordinator for Gainesville’s junior varsity team while helping coach wide receivers and defensive backs at the varsity level.

He moved to Florida from Colorado in June and had a long connection with Gainesville head coach Ashour Peera.

Peera previously coached Styles when Styles played at Gateway High School in Aurora, Colorado. Styles later continued his football career at the University of Northern Colorado, where he played from 2015 through 2019.

Peera described Styles as being “like a son” to him and said the young coach had quickly become an important role model for Gainesville’s players.

Styles also had experience outside football. During his years in Colorado, he worked in education and community relations before making the move to Gainesville.

His death adds another difficult chapter to an unusually turbulent year for the Purple Hurricanes.

Along with losing Rone in April and Styles in September, the program has gone through major coaching changes. Peera was placed on administrative leave in September, leaving defensive coordinator Ray Smith to serve as interim head coach.

On the field, Gainesville entered October with a 2-4 record.

The Hurricanes opened the season with three consecutive losses before responding with victories over Lecanto and rival Eastside. Gainesville then suffered a 54-6 loss to Vanguard on Sept. 25.

Fortunately, a scheduled bye gave the players several days away from competition immediately following Styles’ death.

Gainesville is scheduled to return to the field Friday, Oct. 9, against Lake Weir.

For players and coaches, however, the coming weeks will be about considerably more than wins and losses.

In less than six months, the Gainesville High football family has been forced to say goodbye to two coaches — one a longtime fixture at the school and the other a 31-year-old newcomer who had only begun making his mark.

For now, officials have not announced what caused Styles’ sudden death, and there is no evidence connecting the deaths of the two coaches.