SANDPOINT — One month before Sandpoint High School was set to kick off its 2026 football campaign, head coach Ryan Knowles went to his offensive coordinator and friend, George Yarno, for help. 

Knowles’ wife, Megan Cummings Knowles, was battling cancer, and he needed more time to support her. Sandpoint football’s head coach asked Yarno to take over some of his responsibilities, like running the offseason weight room. 

“I just said, 'Whatever you need, whenever you need it,” Yarno said. “Like I would do for my own brother, because that's what he is to me.” 

As Yarno and other SHS coaches prepared the Bulldogs in July, Megan’s fight was taking a turn for the worse. Four days before Sandpoint was set to begin practicing, she passed away. 

Once the news spread, the support they’d quietly received from their SHS family turned into an avalanche as the community that Megan built throughout her life uplifted her family. 

“I don't know what I'd do without it,” Ryan said. “I joke all the time. We have more pans of lasagna than I know what to do with ... and our grocery bills are basically zero these days. It's humbling and awesome and everything all at the same time.” 

From DoorDash gift cards to an oar from the University of Minnesota’s football program, a gift from a former coaching colleague to symbolize resilience, the Knowles’ family home is packed with gifts from across the country. It’s a fitting tribute to the couple’s 22-year journey together that’s taken them from Moscow, Idaho, to New York to Sandpoint. 

“You can't make it up. You can't, that's just part of our path,” Ryan said. "The material things are nice, but obviously, it's the thought and the caring and the overwhelming support. It’s all very, very special.” 

When Sandpoint football returned to practice, Ryan and his son, Drew Knowles, a defensive lineman like his father, were there and grieving. Ryan said he, Drew and his daughter, Aubrey, discussed how they wanted to move forward after Megan’s passing.  

Ryan said both Drew and Aubrey said they wanted to keep normalcy in their lives. For Aubrey, that meant continuing to study biomedical engineering at Gonzaga University, and for Drew that meant being on the football field. 

“[That] solidified my decision of OK, yes, I'm grieving. We are all grieving, but we're going to go to practice,” Ryan said. "We're going to go be part of a team. We're going to go be a part of something very positive, and very team-oriented and family-oriented, it has made a lot of difference ... It's become a good source of strength for my son and I.” 

Ryan and Drew’s resilience was put to the test in the Bulldogs’ home opener against Twin Falls. The roars of the crowd that welcomed Sandpoint back to War Memorial Field quickly grew still as the school held a moment of silence for Megan while the Bulldogs donned helmet stickers honoring her. 

The moments before the game following the national anthem have always been special for Ryan. He said that feeling prior to kickoff dates back to when his dad would stand with him during his time at Sandpoint High. 

“It was nice, and it was emotional, and it was right in the heat of it all,” Ryan said. “It's like, OK, we got to get ready for a game here, and just as Meg would be like, ‘Oh, don't do this, don't draw attention. We have a football game to worry about.’ But for me, that's a special moment and a really thoughtful moment by our community.” 

The Bulldogs narrowly won their opener 36-34 over the visiting Bruins, a cardiac play style that stayed with the team through their 3-0 start. When it came time for Sandpoint’s fourth game against Bonners Ferry, however, Knowles called upon Yarno again. 

The game lined up with Megan’s induction into the University of Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame, and there was nowhere else Ryan would be but Moscow. So, Yarno served as the head coach and helped Ryan earn his 50th win at the helm of his alma mater with a 41-14 victory over the Badgers. 

“It's a huge honor to be entrusted with something like that,” Yarno said. “The fact that he trusted me to do it right, and I actually found out after the fact that that was Ryan's 50th win as head coach. He told me that, and I said, ‘Well, good. Congratulations, you've earned it.’” 

Since then, the Bulldogs have settled into a 5-2 record on the season ahead of league play. On their bye last week, the Knowles family held a celebration of life service for Megan in Sagle, complete with contributions from across Bonner County. 

Ryan’s friends stepped up with donations of the location, tent and heaters while they helped organize the event that took place on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille.   

The day before the service, the Bulldogs’ coaches and junior varsity team came to set up the tables and chairs, and the day after the varsity team took it down.  

“It's the least we could do for Ryan,” Yarno said. “Ryan donates so much time. I mean, there's only one person in this school that spends more time here than I do, and that's Ryan.” 

An incoming storm held off as community members, coaches, friends and family joined together to celebrate Megan last Saturday. Over 20 members of the Bulldog football team attended, wearing their jerseys with patches honoring Megan and her life. 

“Of course, we have the celebration of life on the bye week,” Ryan said. “Our married life has always revolved around football, and kids' births were revolving around football, our wedding, our vacations. So, I feel a little guilty, but I also don't because this is all we've ever done.” 

In addition to Megan’s name living forever in the U of I Hall of Fame, the family has created an endowment fund in her honor. The Megan Cummings Knowles Soccer Endowment will provide a Vandal women’s soccer player with a scholarship.  

Ryan announced Thursday that the endowment has already neared the mark where it can produce a scholarship every year for a Vandal student-athlete. 

“I have six pages of donors that have already contributed to that, and that's money that will never leave an account with her name in it, and the interest will always go to a soccer player at the University of Idaho,” Ryan said. "That's legacy stuff, and that's what she did in her 46 years is leave a pretty big print.” 

Donations to the endowment can be made by visiting giving.uidaho.edu/campaigns/megan-cummings-knowles-soccer-endowment.