END OF AN ERA: GLASGOW RETIRES FROM COACHING

Dr. Terry Glasgow, one of the winningest coaches in the history of Division III men’s basketball, recently announced his retirement from coaching, ending an unprecedented 35-year career with the Fighting Scots.

"There’s never a good time to leave, but after a great deal of thought, I decided that this was the right time," said Glasgow, who will remain Monmouth’s athletic director through the end of the academic year.

"It’s really the end of an era, not only in terms of Terry Glasgow coaching the basketball team, but also an era in which people like Terry wear so many hats within an athletic department," said MC president Mauri Ditzler. "We’re sad to see that link to the past go. There’s no way we will find a single person to do all that Terry did for Monmouth College."

Glasgow began coaching the basketball team in 1972. It didn’t take long for the Keokuk, Iowa, native to turn the program into an elite one, as he guided the Scots to a Midwest Conference championship in his second year at the helm. Each of his first 11 teams won at least 60 percent of their games, and the Scots then went on a championship run, capturing three MWC titles between 1985 and 1990. The latter team won a school-record 20 consecutive games before falling in the NCAA tournament to eventual runner-up DePauw.

In all, Glasgow led Monmouth to 14 South Division titles of a possible 23, and his teams played in five NCAA tournaments. He coached the Fighting Scots in nearly 40 percent of the basketball program’s 1,999 games, posting a record of 469-313. That victory total puts him among the top 25 in the history of Division III men’s basketball.

Ditzler said it was a fitting coincidence that Glasgow, who many know affectionately as "TG," coached in the Midwest Conference.

"Terry has great Midwestern character and is certainly a product of the region," he said. "He brought the best Midwestern traits to his work for the college. Also, there is a public attitude about athletics in higher education that schools will bend the rules. However, I was always confident that Terry would do things with integrity and honesty."

No other coach in Monmouth history has presided over a single program as long as Glasgow, and when his 343 varsity baseball victories are added in, no Fighting Scots coach comes close to his 812 career wins. Glasgow resigned as baseball coach in 1993 after 21 seasons in charge.

In fact, Glasgow likened the timing of his basketball decision to that of ending his baseball connection. He is proud of the fact that Monmouth’s first team without him had great success on the diamond, winning 20 games, and he believes the basketball team is similarly positioned.

"Personally and professionally, I just felt this was the right time," said Glasgow. "I feel good that the cupboard has not been left bare. We’ve got a strong group of seniors coming back to lead the team, and there are some strong players in each of the classes behind them."

A coaching successor has not yet been named, but Roger Haynes, a 1982 Monmouth graduate who has coached and taught at MC the past quarter-century, has been named interim associate director of athletics. He will be charged with leading the search to find a new coach. Glasgow, who is also chair of the physical education department, will phase out of those duties through the course of the year.

In the meantime, said Ditzler, "Terry is going to help the institution through this time of transition."

YOUTH NO EXCUSE FOR FOOTBALL TEAM

History shows that Monmouth’s 2005 football team was a very special group. That conference championship team featured the most prolific single-season passer and runner in school history, in addition to the career leaders in receiving, tackles and kick returns.

The bad news for the Fighting Scots is that those players are no longer in uniform, but the good news is that eighth-year head coach Steve Bell and his staff have plenty of players waiting in the wings, including some who may one day hold team records themselves.

"Youth is not an excuse," said Bell, who may have as few as two 2008 graduates in his Opening Day lineup vs. visiting Wartburg on Sept. 1. "Some kids will have to step up. If you’re a good team, you’re always graduating good kids. We consider ourselves a good team, and our expectations are not going to change."

Of Monmouth’s eight fourth-year seniors, just three were regular starters last fall. Another member of the class, Nate Palkovic (Peoria, Ill./Woodruff), is back for his fourth and final season as the Scots’ punter and placekicker.

One of those seniors, Brad Reinhart (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln), will anchor the Scots’ offensive line at the center position. The other returning starter on the line is sophomore Josh Kotecki (Peru, Ill./LaSalle-Peru), who will start again at right guard. Junior transfer Matt Wardell (Jacksonville, Ill./Jacksonville) has won the right tackle spot, and the final pieces of the offensive line puzzle, said Bell, will come from a group that includes returners Zach Howerter (Kilbourne, Ill./Havana), Seth Hill (Jacksonville, Ill./Jacksonville) and Dan Schwindenhammer (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) and freshman Nick Thoele (Springfield, Ill./Sacred Heart-Griffin).

"We’ll be very physical up front," said Bell of the group, which should average around 6-foot-2 and 265 pounds.

In the past two years, Monmouth’s linemen have had to adapt to two different schemes, primarily pass blocking as Mitch Tanney threw for 2,587 yards in 2005 and focusing on the run last fall, which paved the way for Dante Daniels’ 1,557-yard campaign. The early guess for this year’s squad is a more balanced look, with a "two-headed monster" splitting the yardage and carries at tailback, and a relatively inexperienced quarterback throwing to a handful of up-and-coming receivers.

Sharing the tailback duties will be fourth-year junior Jeff Davis (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) and sophomore Clay Bricker (Avon, Ill./Bushnell-Prairie City). Davis, who rushed for 2,131 yards for his 7A state championship team in high school, got a few carries last year to spell Daniels and rushed for 112 yards and a TD. Bricker "really improved during the spring," according to Bell, and "is getting a hard, hard look" at being the starter.

In Bell’s offensive system, the fullback also helps pave the way for the ground game, and Bell is comfortable with a group that includes former starters Jess Miller (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth) and Shane LaDew (Minier, Ill./Olympia) and converted linebacker Ross Logan (Dallas City, Ill./Nauvoo-Colusa).

Miller’s five catches and two touchdowns are actually tops on the team in terms of 2006 returners. At the wide receiver position, that honor belongs to another fourth-year senior, Tomas Alvarez (Beardstown, Ill./Beardstown), who has caught two passes in each of the past two seasons. Another top receiver candidate, Bobby Gibbs (Roseville, Ill./Roseville), is a fourth-year junior. He missed last season but caught 10 passes out of the backfield in 2005 in addition to rushing for 327 yards. Gibbs will strictly be a receiver this fall, and will be joined in the rotation by fourth-year senior Emmanuel Minter (Park Forest, Ill./Rich East) and veterans Robert Garcia (Princeville, Ill./Princeville), Ryan Hardman (Broadview, Ill./St. Joseph), Nick Wright (Canton, Ill./Canton) and Kyle Wantland (Fisher, Ill./Fisher). Bell is especially high on Garcia, a converted quarterback, who is "playing exceptional football right now."

Freshmen aren’t often counted on to make an impact for the Scots, but the receiver position might be an exception, as Bell said that Matt Shepherd (Leesburg, Fla./Leesburg) and Michael Blodgett (Appleton, Wis./North) have brought a "Wow!" factor into preseason practices. "They’ve both been extremely impressive," he added.

Other freshmen who could see the field are Jon Unruh (Havana, Ill./Havana) and Jordan Rader (Canton, Ill./Canton).

"Steve is a terrific athlete and is easily the best runner of the group," said Bell. "He is also throwing the ball better than he did last year. Alex is extremely football smart and is extremely accurate. He understands where the ball should go."

After two seasons of all-conference play from Shane Gordon, Bell is looking for a new tight end, and sophomore Alec Harrison (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs) is the current leader of a very inexperienced group.

Despite the big names missing from the past, Bell said, "I expect to be pretty good on offense. There are obviously some unknowns, but we’re banking that we’ve recruited well enough in the past couple years and that we have kids who will step into roles. I won’t say we’re outstanding yet offensively, but we’ll be solid."

Defensively, the Scots were certainly solid in 2006, holding teams to single digits in five of the games during Monmouth’s 7-3 campaign.

"We expect our defense to be very good," said Bell. "We expect them to play at a high level."

Whatever success the group experiences this fall could be repeated in the future, as only Aaron Payette (Shannon, Ill./Eastland) will be lost to graduation. Payette is a two-time All-MWC cornerback who picked off five passes last fall and will lead a young but experienced secondary.

"Aaron’s showing no effects from a foot injury he suffered late last year," said Bell. "He can be a very good player. We’ve named him a captain, and we expect big things from him."

Joining him in the backfield are corner Kyle Harmon (Moline, Ill./Moline) and safeties Cole Norman (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) and Sean Wells (Heyworth, Ill./Heyworth).

Bell also has few doubts about another quartet, his linebackers in Monmouth’s 3-4 scheme. Outside ’backers T.C. Olsen (Amboy, Ill./Amboy) and Luke Sandrock (Deer Grove, Ill./Prophetstown) both started games last year, as did inside players Marc Artozqui (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) and Danny Weiden (Oglesby, Ill./LaSalle-Peru).

"T.C. is our highlight guy," praised Bell, who called the junior the defense’s hardest hitter. "He’s a 195-pound bullet. T.C. plays football the way it should be played."

Bell explained that he favors the 3-4 alignment because "it allows us to come at teams from different angles. We can bring guys off the edge or up the middle and still play zone behind it. A 3-4 can really mess with blocking schemes and make things difficult for the offense. I know it’s given us some problems when we’ve had to play against teams that use it."

While the Scots don’t return a lot of rushing and receiving yardage, they do have a lot of stats back on defense. Weiden was second on the team with 60 tackles, Norman was fourth with 54 and Olsen was in on 49 stops.

Right behind that group was the leader of the defensive line, fourth-year junior Wes Levy (Plano, Ill./Yorkville), who had five sacks among his 47 tackles, earning first-team All-MWC honors in the process.

"We expect great things out of him," said Bell. "He’s our feature guy right now, and he played like it at the end of last year. He’s a good athlete, and he’s very football smart."

Sophomore nose guard Nick Hoffman (Moline, Ill./Moline) returns, and classmate Marc Wozniak (Petersburg, Ill./PORTA) could make an impact after returning from an injury.

"Then we get youthful," said Bell, who said that freshmen Peyton Lumzy (Dixon, Ill./Dixon), Trevor Newton (Lemont, Ill./Lemont) and Matt Dever (Canton, Ill./Canton) will also be part of the defensive line rotation.

One area where Monmouth is certainly not youthful is the kicking game. Palkovic, who has three All-MWC honors as a kicker and two as a punter, is back for his final season. He should become the Scots’ all-time leading scorer at some point in September, as his 189 points are just 19 behind Hall of Famer Mark Reed.

Palkovic, who Bell said is "extremely dependable," was good on 30-of-31 PATs last fall and 7-of-9 field goals, and he added an impressive 37.5-yard punting average. He should take over the career lead in punts as well, needing just 25 more.

When the other team kicks, look for Gibbs or Shepherd to be the deep man. Gibbs has previous experience in the role, accumulating 570 career return yards. Hardman and Blodgett are other possible returners.

Two of the Scots’ top tacklers on special teams last year were Alvarez and Bricker.

Overall, said Bell, "We’re trying to be the best we can be, and I think that can be pretty good."

Although the Scots have won 39 of their past 45 regular season games, Bell conceded that defending champion St. Norbert deserves its status as league favorite.

"I think the league is the toughest it’s been," added Bell, whose seven-year record at Monmouth stands at 50-21. "The teams are better at the higher end."