WAKULLA COUNTY, FL (WTXL) — The Wakulla High School football team will honor Kyler Jones, a 16-year-old who died in a diving accident over the July 4th weekend, throughout the upcoming football season.
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To honor Kyler, the football staff placed a sign of his jersey by the locker room entrance and will have stickers of his number 11 on helmets for the season.
Head football coach Derek Allen said the team's focus this season will reflect the way Kyler lived.
"Everything that we're gonna do is gonna be to represent him and how he, just the way that he lived and the way he went about life," Allen said.
Kyler's cousin and teammate Wyatt Jones said it will be hard not having Kyler on the field, but the team plans to carry him with them.
"When we go out there and I see that sign, no matter what, I know he's looking down on us, and there's a part of him with us, with the numbers being on our helmet, and seeing that it's just everything we got, we taught as a team. We're gonna play for him because I know he'd be giving it his all to play with us right now," Wyatt Jones said.
Kyler was described as someone who lived life to the fullest every single day and was fearless.
His older sister, Molly Jones Bowell, said the tribute means everything to her family.
"Seeing Kyler remembered and carried into this football season really means so much to us. Football was a huge part of his life, but the relationships he had through it meant even more," Bowell said.
Bowell said Kyler deeply looked up to Coach Allen, who had coached him since Pee Wee football, and that the players were more than just teammates — they were his friends.
"They made memories that will always be a part of Kyler's story, and knowing that they're going into this season with him still in their hearts means more to my family than I can really put into words," Bowell said.
Bowell also expressed gratitude for the support the community has shown her family.
The team's first game is Friday, Aug. 14.
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