Dartmouth College football coach Buddy Teevens has lost his right leg as a result of his March 16 bike crash in northern Florida, his wife wrote Tuesday night in a brief message published on the college athletic department website.

“We would like to thank everyone for the incredible outpouring of love and support,” Kristen Teevens wrote. “It has been nothing short of amazing and we are so grateful.”

“As Buddy navigates through the healing of his injuries, he is experiencing many positive improvements,” the statement continued. “Unfortunately, as a result of the accident, Buddy’s right leg was amputated.

“He is alert and communicating with us and ready for transfer to a premier rehab facility to continue healing. Spinal cord injuries are challenging, and if anybody is up for the challenge, it is Buddy.”

Buddy and Kirsten Teevens were bicycling home from a restaurant on a busy coastal road in St. Augustine when he was struck by a Ford F-150 pickup truck driven by 40-year-old Jennifer Blong, of St. Augustine, according to a Florida State Police report from the crash released late last month. The Teevens family owns a home near the crash site.

Blong was uninsured and driving at approximately 50 mph, according to the report. She was not blood-alcohol tested by police. Buddy Teevens was cited in the report for “failure to yield the right of way.”

The report describes the coach as riding perpendicular to automotive traffic and outside of any marked crossing area. He was not wearing a helmet or any illumination, according to the document, which is listed as incomplete with the notation “pending charges” given as the reason.

Buddy Teevens was airlifted to a nearby hospital and his wife was cited in the police report for suspected alcohol use, but was not tested for it. The highway patrol has not responded to requests for additional information.

Blong said in a brief phone interview on March 30 that she was not at fault for the incident.

“It was an accident,” she said. “The image stuck in my head from that night is horrific. He was so hurt.”

Blong’s mother, Susan, said during an April 4 phone interview that just prior to the crash, her daughter had dropped off diapers for her 3-year old son at her nearby home. She was returning to her job serving drinks at a St. Augustine restaurant. Jennifer Blong offered to be blood-alcohol tested after the crash, her mother added.

“She said she would do the breathalyzer test and (the police) didn’t make her, so they must not have had any suspicion,” Susan Blong said. “She said he appeared right there in front of her and she just couldn’t stop.”

Buddy Teevens is 117-101-2 in two stints as his alma mater’s head football coach. Teevens coached Dartmouth from 1987-91, sharing one Ivy League title and winning another outright. He left for Tulane and was an assistant at Illinois and Florida before becoming head coach at Stanford.

Teevens returned to the Big Green in 2005. Dartmouth shared the league title in 2015, 2019 and 2021. Teevens was honored as the New England coach of the year in 1990, 2015 and 2019.

Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com.]]>