The missing men's families have set up an e-mail address for experienced pilots and boaters to contact them to help. Coast Guard Capt. Timothy Close said the agency wouldn't prevent private searches, but discouraged them, saying they could be dangerous. He said authorities believed if there were more survivors, they would have been found.

Free-agent defensive tackle Tank Johnson, a childhood friend and college teammate of Cooper at Washington, was taking a lead role in the renewed search. Johnson, who played for the Dallas Cowboys last season, said the family has not given up hope that the men are still alive.

"I truly believe he is out there somewhere being strong," Johnson said.

Raiders coach Tom Cable described Cooper as a good teammate and strong leader.

"In our opinion, they're still fighting, they're still battling, they're still doing everything they can to survive to be found," Cable said.

Even if the men aren't found alive, it's important to recover their remains so families can have closure, Johnson said.

"This kid is going fight to the bitter end," said Cooper's father, Bruce Cooper. "And so in my heart of hearts, I just believe he's out there somewhere just waiting to be found."

Schuyler told Bleakley's mother the harrowing account of the friends' fight for survival, describing how they swam back to the boat despite repeatedly being slammed by waves. Bleakley and Schuyler managed to stick together for about 24 hours and they talked about how they would live their lives differently, Betty Bleakley said.

"He said they huddled together, they just kept climbing back on the boat after getting knocked off," she said. "They fought. They fought."

She said her 25-year-old son's actions were heroic, including swimming underneath the boat to get life vests for the other men and then using a cushion for floatation himself.

"That was Will," she said. "Will was calm and level-headed and would just try to think things through. As painful as it was talking to Nick, it's providing some closure for us."