WIU players pull for coach

Font Size:

By Steve Batterson | Thursday, August 7, 2008 10:33 AM CDT | () comments

Interim coach Mark Hendrickson shows bracelets football players will wear with the words "Coach P," as a show of support for coach Don Patterson, who is battling cancer. (Jessica Ruebush/Western Illinois University) Buy this Photo

MACOMB, Ill. — Motivation can be found less than an arm’s length away for everyone associated with the Western Illinois football program.

As a veteran Leathernecks team begins practice in preparation for the season opener Aug. 30 at Arkansas, players and coaches all wear a reminder that their fight this fall extends beyond the football field.

Each wears a soft purple bracelet stamped with the words “Coach P,” a show of support for 10th-year coach Don Patterson as he continues treatments for tonsillar cancer that will prevent him from being with his team during fall camp and through the opening games of the season.

“He’s always been there for us and we’ll always be there for him,” said Matt Warner, a former Sherrard High School player in his second season as WIU’s starting tight end.

Those sentiments were echoed repeatedly Wednesday at the Leathernecks’ annual media day. Players said the situation they face has drawn them closer together.

“The best thing we can do for him is be strong and prepare for the season the way he would want us to,’’ said Bettendorf’s Tim Jackson, who opens fall camp on top of the depth chart at free safety.

“Coach P is in our thoughts every day, and I’m sure he is thinking about us, too, but the best way for us to deal with it is to have a great camp, come together as a team and get ready to have the kind of season we are capable of having.”

Western Illinois returns nine starters on each side of the ball and its specialists from a team that finished 6-5 a year ago.

Associate head coach Mark Hendrickson, who followed Patterson to Western after five seasons together on the staff at Iowa, is the interim head coach.

“While it’s a tough situation, Coach P and coach Hendrickson have worked together so long it’s been a pretty seamless situation,” fifth-year senior quarterback Zack Wells of Muscatine said. “We all have to step up and do our job.”

When Hendrickson welcomed the team to its first preseason meeting on Sunday, Patterson was present.

Although he is undergoing radiation treatments four days a week and chemotherapy on a fifth at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, he returned to campus last weekend to meet with his team.

“It was an emotional situation. Some of the new guys hadn’t had a chance to see him yet. He challenged us, and we let him know how much we’re behind him,” said sophomore Kyle Glazier of Geneseo, a projected starter at linebacker.

Hendrickson said seniors distributed the bracelets to their teammates near the end of the meeting. They also presented one to Patterson and to members of his family.

“It’s been a challenge for all of us. There has been time to deal with the emotions of it and now, we are all dealing with the responsibilities of the job that lies ahead,’’ Hendrickson said. “Coach Patterson wants the focus to be on football and preparing for the season and we owe it to him to make that happen.”

Steve Batterson can be contacted at (563) 383-2290 or sbatterson@qctimes.com.

Western Illinois

2007 record: 6-5 overall, 3-3

conference

Returning starters: Offense 9, Defense 9

2008 schedule

8/30    at Arkansas                  6 p.m.

9/6    Quincy     6 p.m.

9/13    at South Dakota St.      6 p.m.

9/20    Stephen F. Austin   6 p.m.

10/4    at Missouri St.    2 p.m.

10/11    at North Dakota St.      6 p.m.

10/18    Indiana State      3 p.m.

11/1    Northern Iowa                  Noon

11/8    at Southern Illinois          2 p.m.

11/15    Illinois State                   1 p.m.

11/22    Youngstown State       1 p.m.