Houston Cougars football director of strength and performance Kurt Hester was diagnosed with stage IV Melanoma in early February.
He has served as an inspiration for not just the Houston football program, but for the college football world after his awe-inspiring journey was highlighted on ESPN’s College GameDay in early October.
The morning of Houston’s impressive 24-16 victory over the No. 24 Arizona State Sun Devils, Hester unfortunately passed away after his eight-month battle with cancer.
“Death is undefeated, but I’ll take it to three overtimes. That’s strength. There’s nothing that you can throw at me that is going to make me stop. I’m unbreakable.”
– Kurt Hester
Houston Cougars head coach Willie Fritz coaches against the Texas Tech Raiders in the first half at TDECU Stadium. / Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
“Kurt showed his unbreakable spirit every day,” Houston head coach Willie Fritz said following the game. “He had a tremendously positive influence on every single person in our program and on this program as a whole. Kurt was fortunate enough to love what he did for a living and had an unbelievable impact on so many people across so many programs. Kurt had his family, faith and football and that’s what he cared about.”
Back in January, Hester was lifting weights in Houston’s training facility when he broke a rib. Upon getting an X-ray, it was revealed that he had a mass in his lungs and a few on his liver. It turns out that he had stage IV melanoma, a skin cancer that had spread to his lungs and liver.
“The whole game was for him,” quarterback Conner Weigman said.
In the victory, Weigman completed 17 of his 22 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the ball 21 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
Coming to practice and coaching the Coogs was considered a major part of Hester’s recovery and he said it was a form of therapy for him. Since his January diagnosis, his tumors had been receding.
“What are you going to see that he’s not going through right now?” defensive lineman Xavier Stillman said. “He’s wheezing coming up the stairs. So it’s like, why are you taking the elevator? What excuse do you have now?”
Hester’s legacy will live on through every single player he has coached during his career, especially those whose lives he had touched over the past year.
“He stared death in the face and didn’t blink,” Cougars tight end Tanner Koziol said. “He was truly unbreakable. He defined that word by living it. He’s such a man of faith.”