John Edward Beam (1959–2025) was an American football coach and faculty athletics director in Oakland, California. Affectionately known as Coach Beam, he served as head football coach at Laney College from 2012 to 2024, leading the Eagles to a California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) championship in 2018. Prior to his time at Laney, he served as head coach at Skyline High School from 1987 to 2012. Beam was also featured in the fifth season of the Netflix documentary series Last Chance U, released in 2020.
More than a football coach, Beam was a mentor and friend to generations of young people in Oakland.
“Coach John Beam was a giant in Oakland and mentored thousands,” Mayor Barbara Lee said during a press conference on Friday, November 14, 2025. “Coach Beam’s legacy isn’t measured in championships or statistics, even though they are great. It’s measured in the thousands of young people he believed in, mentored, and refused to abandon — including my nephew while at Skyline High School. He gave Oakland’s youth their best chance, and he never stopped fighting for them.”
Oakland Public Library honors the life and legacy of Coach Beam and sends condolences to his family, friends and all who loved him. Please join us in remembering him — stop by the Main (Library 1st floor) to sign a memory book for his family.
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