Danny Amendola turned his grief into a moving performance last night in honor of his late coach on “Dancing with the Stars.”

The two-time Super Bowl champion and former New England Patriots wide receiver danced in the fifth competition round of the show on Tuesday night.

Before Tuesday’s show, each star performed routines honoring influential people and institutions in their lives for Tuesday’s show, which was appropriately named Dedication Night. Dancer Mark Ballas was a guest judge.

Together with his professional partner Witney Carson, Amendola danced a contemporary, which he dedicated to his college football coach, Mike Leach, who recruited him to Texas Tech University. Leach died in 2022 after suffering a heart attack.

“He was an instrumental character in my life and my career,” Amendola said.

“Since the coach passed away, I feel like I’ve been missing a piece of myself,” he added. “I don’t have my rock, I don’t have my man.”

What song did Danny Amendola dance to last night on ‘DWTS’?

Danny Amendola and his partner Witney Carson danced a contemporary to “Unsteady – The Erich Lee Gravity Remix” by X Ambassadors on “Dancing with the Stars” last night.

Amendola’s dance was dedicated to his college football coach, Mike Leach, who passed away in 2022.

“He sold us a dream that we could afford through hard work and dedication,” Amendola said of Leach. “And being a coach is a very selfless job. And you know, I miss him a lot, and this is for him.”

How did Danny Amendola score on ‘DWTS’ last night?

Danny Amendola scored a 36/40 for his contemporary on “Dancing with the Stars” last night.

All four judges – Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, Bruno Tonioli and guest judge Mark Ballas – gave him a nine out of ten.

He came first that evening, tying with Joey Graziadei.

There are eight teams left in the competition.

Who was eliminated from ‘DWTS’ last night?

On last night’s episode of ‘Dancing with the Stars’, model Brooks Nader was eliminated from the competition.

The elimination was decided by a combination of the judges’ scores and the viewers’ votes.

How to stream or watch ‘DWTS’ live

“Dancing with the Stars” airs live Tuesday night on ABC and Disney+. It’s also available for next-day streaming on Hulu.

The next episode airs Tuesday, October 22 at 8pm EST.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Watch Danny Amendola honor late coach with modern-day ‘DWTS’ routine