Randy Tieman always remembers.

On the first day of football practices, he remembers.

The former Hall head coach has returned to the Red Devils coaching staff this season. On Monday, the first day of practice, Tieman remembered,

It was on his very first day as the Hall football head coach, Aug. 8, 2012, that the Red Devils and the Hall community suffered the unimaginable loss of Hall junior Daniel Lule.

He collapsed about 20 minutes into an afternoon practice session during a non-contact agility drill. He was taken to the former St. Margaret’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at age 17.

It was determined three days later that Lule died of an enlarged heart, a ticking time bomb that could have happened at any time, anywhere.

The Hall team, accompanied by community members and players from neighboring schools, rallied together with a memorial walk from JFK School in Spring Valley to Lule’s house in support of his family.

Tieman reflects on the anniversary of Lule’s passing every year on Facebook, this year saying “13 years have gone by since we lost one of the best. There’s not many days I don’t think about you. Daniel you were a great teammate, friend and most of all you were a great person.”

He took a moment during Monday’s first practice, having passed the football figurine at Nesti Stadium to honor Lule, to reflect on the tragedy.

“I’ve talked to other coaches about it and I talked to (former Hall coach) Dan Darlington after it happened, and he said he didn’t think he could come back after that. That’s a guy’s who’s a Hall of Famer,” Tieman said. “That’s one of the toughest things that could ever happen. And it was not just on me. But all of his friends and his family mostly. That’s the hardest part.”

When Tieman returned for his second stint as the Hall head coach in 2022, the first practice fell on Aug. 8, the 10th anniversary of Lule’s passing.

Tieman does his best to keep Lule’s memory alive and what he meant to the program.

“As the years change, you try to let these kids know what it’s all about. About every three years I used to sit down and talk to them all and let them know what this meant and what happened,” he said.

“He was a good kid. He meant a lot to a lot of people. He was a kid that showed up at 5:30, 6 o’clock in the morning just to help spot people then he’d come in and do his lifting in the afternoon after school. He had a job, went to school and played football.”

Lule, who played guard and defensive tackle for the Red Devils, was described at the time of his passing by former Hall superintendent Mike Struna as a “wonderful young man who was a Red Devil through and through.”

The Daniel Lule Football Scholarship Award was established in 2012 in memory of Lule, who would be 30 today. It is awarded to a senior football player who participated for four years, maintained a 3.8 grade point average or better his senior year, demonstrated leadership and/or exemplary performance in both football and in the classroom, and completed an essay on a topic given by the Red Devil Touchdown Club.

Kevin Hieronymus has been the BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com