Eastern’s 1974 football season had not even started when, at the time red-shirt junior quarterback, Mike Shanahan took a hit that nearly killed him.

The young East Leyden high-school graduate was ecstatic to be wearing an Eastern Illinois football jersey. Coming from a large family, he would not have been able to even play at Eastern if he was not offered a full-ride scholarship, so he was determined to make the most of his opportunity.

It was late in the fourth quarter of a spring game when Shanahan was hit hard, knocking the wind out of him instantly. He thought he had just taken a hard hit and would be fine in a little while, but he was greatly mistaken.

Shanahan returned home, where he would spend the next few hours getting sick. Luckily, his roommate and future NFL coach, Mike Heimerdinger called an ambulance and had him taken to the hospital. At the hospital, he discovered he split one of his kidneys in two, and if he had stayed at home much longer he would have died.

Due to the severity of the injury and insurance reasons, Shanahan’s playing career was over, devastating the hopeful quarterback. However, Shanahan now views this near death experience as an opportunity that vaulted him into a coaching career.

“I was pretty lucky,” Shanahan said. “I didn’t know at the time that this was a blessing in disguise. At that time, I thought I was a good football player and I didn’t know I was never going to play in the NFL, so I started coaching a little bit earlier.”

The former Eastern quarterback and current NFL head coach returned to Eastern as the speaker at the Third Annual Athletic Director’s Gala at the Hilton Garden Inn in Effingham. He was happy to make a return, as it brought back many memories.

“It feels good, I haven’t been back in awhile,” Shanahan said.

Shanahan said he enjoyed his time at Eastern because of its size and closeness to his home near Chicago. He said one of his favorite memories of Eastern was when he was an assistant coach on the football team in 1978 and the Panthers won the Division II National Championship. The Panthers had not had a winning season in 17 years prior to being crowned national champions.

“That was one of those magical years that you remember for a long time,” Shanahan said.

Shanahan is one of Eastern’s most successful graduates and has become the headline name in a large group of football coaches who have made their way into the NFL. This group includes Sean Payton, head coach New Orleans Saints; Brad Childress, former Minnesota Vikings head coach; and Mike Heimerdinger, assistant coach Tennessee Titans.

Sports have been a part of Shanahan for his entire life. His high school coach was a tremendous influence and spurred Shanahan’s interest in coaching. However, after his college experience, he began to dream about coaching collegially.

“I went to graduate school and I had an opportunity to go to Oklahoma as a graduate assistant, and I said ‘If you want to learn football, why not learn from the best?'” Shanahan said.

In 1975, he went to the University of Oklahoma as the Sooners were coming off a national championship. Shanahan said this gave him a great opportunity to get started in a coaching career. He soon began to get offers from colleges across the country to be a head coach, but he never dreamed of becoming a NFL coach.

Shanahan finally broke through as a NFL head coach in 1988 with the Los Angeles Raiders, but he only lasted one year and four games. He did not know if he was ever going to get another shot, but after a few years as an assistant on the Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers, Denver gave him another chance as a head coach.

He cemented his legacy in Denver from 1995-2008, winning two Super Bowls along the way.

“I got an opportunity with Denver and good things happened,” Shanahan said. “You go through some tough times, but perseverance prevails. Tough times don’t last, tough people do.”

Rob Mortell can be reached at 581-7944 or [email protected].