Hillcrest-Evergreen football coach Justin Nared remembered Robert Baldwin Jr. as a “gentle giant” on Friday morning.

The 18-year-old Baldwin, a senior on the Jaguars’ football team, was stabbed on Highway 83 in the West Side community of Evergreen, the Conecuh County Coroner’s office reported on social media.

He was transported to Evergreen Medical Center where he was pronounced dead Thursday night.

“It’s just so tragic and unfortunate,” Nared told AL.com. “I got a phone call late last night. I didn’t get a whole lot of details. There were conflicting stories with all the information, but at the end of the day he was stabbed multiple times and later died.”

Baldwin was a starting defensive lineman for the Hillcrest-Evergreen football team. He also was a backup offensive lineman and a long snapper on punts.

“We were trying to get him some junior college opportunities,” Nared said. “If that didn’t work out, we were trying to get him signed up for the military. He was such a humble kid. He was strong as an ox, but was a big, gentle giant. I hate it for our community.”

Nared said Baldwin was a leader on and off the field.

“He was that alpha male that everyone needs on a football team, and everyone loved him,” he said. “At school this morning, I was walking through the cafeteria, which is usually pretty active and loud obviously, and you could hear a pin drop today. It’s something you never think you are going to have to deal with.”

It’s definitely something Nared has never had to deal with in his young coaching career.

“I’ve been places where we’ve had former players die, and that is certainly tragic, too,” he said. “But I’ve never had a current player murdered. It’s just so sad. What do you go in and tell teenagers when a kid that they were just in school with four hours ago has been killed? One of their best friends is literally no longer here. You walk in and all you see is kids with red eyes and crying.”