FLATWOODS —
As lightning delayed Russell from getting on the football practice field Tuesday, Ivan McGlone leaned on his walker just outside the locker room and kept an eye on the weather.
Certainly, McGlone is looking expectantly to this, his 37th head coaching season with the Red Devils. They open Friday night at Greenup County.
During an offseason flooded with heartache and physical setbacks for Russell's beloved 74-year-old legend, McGlone often wondered if he could make it back to the sideline this summer — or perhaps ever.
It's been a long and painful ordeal.
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In April, his wife, Gloria, who almost never missed attending Russell games, passed away after a long and courageous battle with cancer.
Ivan had back surgery three months prior tothat and has experienced a difficult recovery, including two staph infections (back) and a blood clot in his right leg. But the emotional part has been the hardest.
“My wife dying ... everything else is secondary,” an emotional McGlone said this summer.
Many in the school community have reached out to the popular coach and retired teacher.
McGlone's coaching staff is like family, and they assist him at every opportunity. That included driving him here and there, until McGlone was able to get back behind the wheel recently.
“We all do everything we can,” defensive coordinator Garry Morris said. “Ivan has always been an independent soul. The best thing is, we don't need to hear that he appreciates it because we already know.”
After the operation on his lower back, McGlone said he didn't get out of bed for 21 days. And with all the medical problems that followed, McGlone figured that he was in and out of the hospital about 145 days.
“It got to be a joke,” he said. “The nurses gave me what I called a hall pass.”
McGlone's recovery from the surgery and other complications progressed slowly through the spring and into the summer.
That led him to “wonder about whether you can do your job of not.”
The man with 303 coaching wins at Russell said he offered to resign during the spring, but athletic director Sam Sparks wouldn't hear of it.
It's often been noted McGlone has been great for Russell football, and that football has been great for McGlone. That holds true now as much as ever.
“For him to fight through everything he has, it's an inspiration to all of us,” Sparks said. “I think being around young people again has been the best medicine for him.”
The Hall of Fame coach said he wouldn't know what to do with himself without football. Although McGlone gets around the practice field in a mule utility vehicle that belongs to assistant coach Jeff Smith, he hasn't been able to do much hands-on instruction because of his limited mobility.
Lately, McGlone's left leg strength has improved to the extent that he can lift it across his right foot. He continues to do physical therapy three days a week and uses a walker on a regular basis.
For weeks, McGlone’s goal has been to make it down the steps for Russell’s first home game — next Friday against Ironton.
“There are still chapters in his life story that have yet to be written,” Sparks said. “All of us … football players, staff and coaches, learn from him on a daily basis. I don’t think any of us want to imagine what Friday nights will be like without coach McGlone.”
ROCKY STANLEY can be reached at rstanley@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2671.
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