'Lost For Words:' Manasquan Star Athlete, Coach Killed (UPDATE)

Donny Klein had a gift: He made everybody around him feel better.

So it was no wonder that everyone who knew him was at a loss for words on Wednesday.

The beloved star athelete and coach, one of the few to come out of the Jersey Shore to play professional football, is gone.

"We are lost for words right now," according to a tweet from The College of New Jersey. "Coach Klein was an amazing human being, the type of person this world needs."

Donald "Donny" Klein, 37 of Tinton Falls was driving a Jeep Wrangler on I-195 westbound when his vehicle veered off the highway and hit a tree in Hamilton Township on Tuesday, police said.

Klein, who was a star at Manasquan High School and even played professionally in the Arena Football League before coming back to his alma mater, was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:40 a.m., police said.

Friends and colleagues remembered "Donny" Klein on social media this week as a star in football and lacrosse at Manasquan during the 1990s who eventually returned to the school as a coach. But he was also a larger-than-life figure: When a Manasquan coach came down with Hodgkin's disease in 2013, Klein had a head shaving station so players could show unity.

Klein was a standout lineman for Manasquan High School who graduated in 1999. His 1998 team was named as one greatest teams of the 1990s, going 12-0 and outscoring opponents 410-71, according to Manasquan officials and The Asbury Park Press. Klein was named to the Associated Press' New Jersey All-State football team.

"He was a bigger than life type of guy. He always had a bigger than life attitude,'' Manasquan athletic director Pete Cahill told The Asbury Park Press. "He was always a fun-loving guy.''

"He was an indomitable spirit, a force of nature,'' Manasquan head football coach Jay Price told The Press. "He was nothing but energy all the time."

"One play we all talk about was when we were playing Lacey and Jax (then Manasquan quarterback Jax Landfried) threw an interception, and the kid (the player who intercepted the ball) broke open down the our sideline. He was going to score and we were going to lose," he also told The Press. "Out of all the kids we had on the field who could run, it was 260-pound guard Donny Klein who chased him down from behind with no angle. It was pure desire, but that was Donny. He was capable of things that were larger than life.''

Manasquan Board of Education President Tom Pellegrino told Patch the community was "devastated" by the loss. He noted that Klein is in the Manasquan Hall of Fame after playing on the high school's great football teams of the late 1990s.

Klein then played professionally, but Pellegrino said he thought well enough of his hometown to come back as a coach when his playing career was over.

"The first chance he got, he came back to Manasqan where he had the chance to influence a lot of athletes," Pellegrino said. "He was a friend. I watched him play. We were still friends."

"The high school is kind of the center of the community," he added. "We're all about tradition and Donny was a big part of it."

Two years ago, Klein switched to The College of New Jersey to serve as offensive line coach for the football team.

The Temple Football community also said it is saddened by the news, noting that Klein played for Temple from 1999-2002.

"Klein was a valuable member of the Owls' offensive line from 1999-2002, making 35 starts and playing in 41 games over his four year career," according to Temple. "He earned the 2001 Dr. Arthur N. Cook Award as the team's most courageous athlete."

Klein is survived by his father, Donald ll; mother, Cindy Zanfini; son, Dax; and girlfriend Courtney Colford, according to Temple.

The College of New Jersey and others also paid tribute to Klein:

The College of New Jersey photo