Auburn Tigers head coach Alex Golesh paid tribute to The Tampa Bay Times' Joey Knight, who passed away at the age of 57 on Friday after a battle with cancer. Knight covered Golesh during his two years as the USF Bulls' head coach in Tampa.
"Saddened to hear the news of Joey’s passing. He always treated myself and our program with respect during my time at USF," Golesh shared to X on Friday. "Thoughts and prayers with his family, friends and colleagues."
As Green Gold and Bold's Joe Henderson shared, "Joey was more than just a top-shelf writer. He was a person of deep faith, a devoted father of three children, and respected even more for who he was than what he did."
As Henderson shared from Alan Knight, Joey's father, when asked what he'd like the world to know about his son: "Just reinforce his love of sports and faith in his savior Jesus Christ."
The College Football world lost two industry titans this week
Tennessee Volunteers beat reporter Wes Rucker passed away on Thursday night after a tragic multi-car accident on I40 in Knoxville. Rucker, 43, leaves behind a pregnant wife and an infant son.
Being that Rucker was new to WBIR Channel 10, there is not an existing life insurance policy in his name. If you could, please consider donating to his family's GoFundMe to help them cover funeral costs and get them through an unimaginable period of grief in the coming weeks and months:
The best part of this gig is meeting someone in a press box only because you were randomly seated beside them, and then you end up becoming friends for a couple of decades. Wes Rucker was that guy. Life isn't fair. But he sure loved the life he had. https://t.co/Eb3tJvR8n7
— Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) February 20, 2026
Rucker was the go-to scribe for everything Rocky Top, but if you look around for the tributes all over social from every corner of the sports world, you'll see he was a man who helped everyone out that he could, whenever possible.
Both men are gone too soon, but leave behind a proud legacy as sterling professionals and compassionate human beings.
The sports world carries a heavy heart into this weekend as it mourns their deaths, and celebrates their beautiful lives.