Published on April 14, 2025 2:30 pm
Last Updated on April 14, 2025 2:37 pm
DECATUR, Ill. – Great coaching has always been important to Millikin Head Football Coach Billy Riebock. As a player at St. Theresa High School in Decatur and Quincy University, and later as an assistant coach for more than 18 seasons, the leadership coaches bring to the team can instill lessons that stretch well beyond a playing career.
“I looked at (my coaches) – and I don’t want to say I was in awe – but there was a high level of respect. Going into a place like St. Theresa, there was so much success where you were trying everything to be a part of it,” Riebock said. “What our coaches instilled in us was to let our actions speak. You wanted to be seen more than heard, and actions were greater than your words.”
Riebock’s hopes to provide those outstanding leadership opportunities when Millikin University Football hosts a unique weekend of motivational events at a Coaches Clinic on April 25-26 that will give high school football coaches and football fans the chance to hear from some of the most well-respected collegiate and Central Illinois high school coaches who all have an established history of success.
The two-day Coaches Clinic will occur on Friday, April 25, 2025, and Saturday, April 26, 2025, at the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel in Decatur, Ill.
Friday’s event is for coaches and football fans from 5-9 p.m., and Saturday’s Coaches Clinic events will be from 8:30 a.m. to noon and are designed for current and new coaches to provide tactical strategy and game plans to help you create a winning environment for your athletes.
The weekend will kick off with a Friday evening program, including featured speaker and Millikin graduate Jeff Monken ’89, the Head Football Coach at Army West Point. Monken will enter his 12th season at the helm of Army West Point. He has a career 120-73 record as a head coach and an 82-57 mark at Army. In 2024, Monken led the Black Knights to a 12-2 record, including an Independence Bowl victory.
Also speaking on Friday is Derek Shay, Senior Offensive Assistant Run Game Specialist at the University of Kentucky, and retired Illinois Wesleyan Head Coach Norm Eash.
Shay is a Cerro Gordo High School graduate who coached at Marshall University, the University of Missouri, Louisiana State University (LSU), and McNeese University. He also served on the staff of one of the country’s top prep powerhouses, the nationally ranked IMG Academy in Florida.
Eash led the Titans for 38 seasons and built the program into one of the country’s most respected NCAA Division III programs. He retired after the 2024 season with 233 victories, good for 13th all-time in DIII football.
These leaders will share their expertise on building championship mindsets as they discuss their victories on and off the field.
Saturday morning’s clinic session will provide coaches with the tactical strategy and game plan to help you create a winning environment for your athletes. Attendees can participate in sessions with experienced coaches, including Josh Jostes ’97, Maroa-Forsyth High School Head Coach, Patrick Etherton ’00, Mount Zion High School Head Coach, Dan Potempa ’02, Mount Zion High School Defensive Coordinator, Jeff Beck ’05, Belvidere North High School Head Coach, and Scott Godfrey ’07, Heyworth High School Head Coach.
The clinic costs $50 per person or $400 for your school’s entire coaching staff. For more information and to register for the event, go to millikin.edu/Coachesclinic.
Fans interested in attending Friday’s event can purchase a ticket for $50 at millikin.edu/FB-Evening.
This event is sponsored by McLeod Express.
Rooms are available at a special rate at the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel for the event. Ask for the Big Blue rate at hoteldecatur.com.