A group of high school football players saved their new offensive coordinator’s life after he collapsed from cardiac arrest during the first day of summer practice, performing CPR and deploying a school defibrillator until paramedics arrived, the team and coaches said.
The scare unfolded last June at Nestucca Valley High School on Oregon’s coast and resurfaced this week as the district recognized the students’ actions. Players said they had just finished warmups when assistant coach Frank Elsasser, a recent hire, grew lightheaded and dropped to the turf. Quarterback Brady Hurliman and teammate Zeth Chapin started chest compressions while others sprinted for an automated external defibrillator in the gym. Health-class lessons and team safety meetings helped them work in rhythm. Head coach Mike Ward said he has never seen a quicker, calmer response on a prep field.
Elsasser was explaining positions when he told the group he felt dizzy and then fell, players recalled. “We flipped him over and after a few seconds he went quiet,” Chapin said. “That’s when Brady ran for the AED.” Hurliman said he met teammate Teagan Slavens halfway back with the device and they opened the case as another player counted compressions aloud. The pads were placed across Elsasser’s chest and a shock was delivered. Coaches kept traffic clear and guided first responders to the field. “In 20 years I’ve coached a lot of places,” Ward said. “I’ve never seen kids respond like that.”
Paramedics later told the team those first minutes made the difference. Elsasser woke up the next day at Emanuel Hospital in Portland, where surgeons performed a triple bypass. He spent days recovering before heading home. Three weeks after the collapse, he returned to practice and quietly walked across the track toward the huddle as teammates clapped. “Without these guys being in action and doing what they did, I wouldn’t have had much of a chance,” Elsasser said. Ken Hurliman, an assistant and Brady’s father, said seeing Elsasser upright again “hit hard in the best way.”
Players credited routine lessons for their composure. Several said they learned chest-compression technique and how to follow AED voice prompts in health class earlier in the year. Others had practiced emergency roles during team meetings: who calls 911, who runs for equipment, who meets firefighters at the gate. Ward said the response reflected the small coastal community’s habit of pitching in. Teammates rotated compressions to keep depth and pace steady, then cleared once medics attached clinical monitors and moved Elsasser to an ambulance. By evening, word spread that his heartbeat and breathing had stabilized.
Cardiac scares at youth and school sporting events have spurred more districts to place defibrillators near fields and gyms and to add CPR refreshers before seasons begin. Nestucca Valley’s football complex sits beside the high school campus, giving players a short dash to the gym where the AED was stored. On the June afternoon of the collapse, the weather was mild and dry, coaches said. Practice halted and the field stayed quiet after the ambulance left while administrators reached families and arranged counseling for students who witnessed the emergency.
Administrators later reviewed the school’s emergency plan and equipment placement. Staff updated contact lists, checked batteries and pads on AED units and logged the incident for insurance and district records. Ward said the program plans to continue preseason briefings that spell out who carries a phone, who opens gates for responders and where to find the nearest device. No formal commendations had been announced as of this weekend, but school leaders praised the players by name at a team meeting and planned to note the response in the winter board agenda.
Elsasser has kept in touch with the players during recovery. He told the team he feels stronger after surgery and is following doctors’ orders while easing back into work. “When I came back and saw them, it was hard to describe,” he said. Brady Hurliman said he was grateful to shake the coach’s hand weeks after thinking the worst. Slavens said he didn’t dwell on the moment until later: “We just did what we were taught. Then it hit us.” Chapin added a simple coda: “He’s here. That’s what matters.”
As of Sunday, the assistant coach was continuing outpatient recovery while helping with off-season planning, according to the staff. The program expects another update at its next school board session later this month, when administrators outline spring activities and note the players’ response during last summer’s medical emergency.
Author note: Last updated January 11, 2026.