John Naylor Jr., 81, who helped Fort Worth Trimble Tech win eight district championships in the 1980s, both as a head coach and offensive coordinator, died Thursday at Harris Methodist Hospital.

He had been ill since last week and had been in the hospital since Monday, said the Rev. Kyev Tatum, a longtime family friend.

"It was a shock and a surprise," said Tatum, who played on four of the championship football teams. "We had that dedication for him just a year ago."

On May 27, 2011, the field house at Trimble Tech was renamed the John W. Naylor Jr. Field House to recognize the contributions of the coach and educator to the school. He taught history, government, math and English for more than 20 years, beginning in 1962, and coached football, basketball and baseball.

"He was all about development and performance," Tatum said. "He took underachievers and made them overachievers. I loved him to death because he would call my play."

Services are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday at Greenwood Funeral Home, 3100 White Settlement Road, in Fort Worth. The visitation is from 3-5 p.m. Sunday.

Survivors include his son, John Naylor III, the head football coach at Fort Worth Western Hills and a former head football coach at Trimble Tech.

Tatum said his former coach deserves credit for offensive innovation in Fort Worth football.

"We ran the run-and-shoot before it was the run-and-shoot," he said. "He introduced that in Fort Worth. We ran the run-and-shoot and the veer all in one offense. He put it together."

Carlos Mendez, 817-390-7760

Twitter @calexmendez