Adam Gress, a massive offensive lineman who helped keep the Penn State football program together during the most turbulent time in program history, has died following an accident, according to multiple former teammates, sources close to the Nittany Lions and a family source.

Details are still emerging, but preliminary reports suggest Gress did not recover after falling and hitting his head Thursday.

“This is just awful news,” said Eric Shrive, a former PSU offensive tackle who was in the same recruiting class as Gress. “He was such great guy and so dedicated to the program. He was friends with everybody, and he worked so hard.”

Gress, who would have turned 27 next week, emerged as a starter for the Nittany Lions as a fifth-year senior in 2013. He was one of the many veterans who had a chance to transfer out of Penn State when NCAA sanctions hit in 2012 in the aftermath of the Sandusky scandal, but instead chose to help new head coach Bill O’Brien save the program.

At 6-foot-7, 320-pounds and with long blonde hair during his playing career, friends and teammates affectionately called the West Mifflin, Pa., native “Sasquatch.” The outgoing Gress embraced it, even making his Twitter handle “GressSquatch.” His sense of humor made him a favorite of beat writers.

Gress was a three-star prospect out of West Mifflin High and a member of Penn State’s heralded 2009 recruiting class. But his college career did not gain traction until O’Brien arrived — along with strength coach Craig Fitzgerald — in 2012. Under Fitzgerald’s guidance, Gress went from weighing less than 300 pounds to a solid 320.

Gress became a full-time starting right tackle early in the 2013 season after overcoming an injury, and helped protect freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg as he passed for 2,955 yards and 20 touchdowns.

While at Penn State, Gress also served as an officer for the school’s chapter of Uplifting Athletes, which has raised more than $1 million for the fight against rare diseases. Former Nittany Lion and Uplifting Athletes founder Scott Shirley thought highly of Gress for a variety of reasons.

“Adam always held a special place in my heart because he was a talented football player with a unique combination of intelligence, compassion ... and goofiness,” Shirley said. “He was a great representative of Penn State football both on and off the field at a time when the Nittany Nation needed it the most. I hope that he always knew how beloved he was by everyone who knew him.”

Gress graduated from Penn State with degrees in telecommunications (May 2013) and journalism (May 2014). He signed a rookie free agent contract with the New York Giants in 2014 but did not make the team’s regular-season roster.

According to former teammates, he was working as a construction site manager in the Pittsburgh area at the time of his passing.

Gress and his fiancé — longtime girlfriend Angela Torchia — had set a wedding date set for the summer of 2018.