VILLA GROVE — Heath Wilson got his coaching start at St. Thomas More as an assistant under Dan Hennessey.
Wilson, simply put, said Hennessey has taught him everything he knows about coaching.
Wilson’s son, Max, was just a baby, but that’s also where he got his start as a football player. While he was still a long way from playing, his mom would carry him around the sideline while Heath coached his players just a few steps away.
Not too long after, Heath took his first head coaching gig at Routt. Max was still along for the ride all five seasons Heath coached at the private school in Jacksonville, this time with responsibilities of bringing water to the players during timeouts and exchanging footballs with the referees after each drive.
Heath found his current coaching home of Villa Grove in 2018, and Max was still right there by his side.
“He’s been around every program I’ve coached, from a kid my wife would hold on the sideline to a second-grader who started being the waterboy,” Heath said. “A lot of these coaches on the staff now knew Max when he was just a baby. It’s just awesome having him there.”
That young waterboy is now a freshman at Villa Grove, and he and his dad are both living out a dream they’ve had for years.
“I always wanted to play for my dad,” Max said. “He coached me in baseball and basketball, and this is just the time of my life.”
Max didn’t have to wait to jump right into the action, either. Right before the season got underway, he earned the starting job at middle linebacker, and through the first four weeks, he’s done more than just hold his own, racking up 40 tackles for second most on the team.
“It’s been tough starting at middle linebacker as a freshman, getting hit, hit, hit, hit and getting yelled at,” Max said with a laugh and a nudge to his dad. “I have to call out formations and tell people where to go.”
Max has gotten to know Heath’s coaching style inside and out during the last handful of years, from listening to conversations in the locker room — some of which Heath wishes he wasn’t there for because of all the language he learned — to breaking down film. Simply being around a football team all these years, it was almost a given Max would end up a solid player for his dad.
“It’s just awesome to finally see him in the pads with the other players of mine,” Heath said. “I look at them like they’re my sons, as well, and now I’ve got a blood son out there. He’s always been a part of the program, but now it’s the real thing. It’s about wins and losses and creating memories with your brothers out there on the football field.”
Max was already making plenty of memories before putting on the jersey, and his favorite, outside of listening to all the coaches and warming up the quarterbacks before every game, is also one Heath holds close.
During last year’s Week 1 matchup against Sullivan/Okaw Valley, the Blue Devils’ defense needed to make a stand at the goal line.
Senior defensive back Brady Clodfelder broke through the line and made a big tackle, forcing a fumble to flip momentum. What happened afterward showed Heath that Max was ready to be on the field.
“I remember this play like it was yesterday,” Heath said. “I saw Max run out there as an eighth-grader and give Brady a chest-bump, and I was like, ‘This is going to be a fun next four years.’ He’s been around the program so much, and he knows what it takes to be an impact player. When that play happened, I was like, ‘That’s the excitement I want to feel with him when he’s actually playing.’ That’s when I knew he had the potential to be an impact player right away.”
While Max does play for his dad, he doesn’t receive a lot of coaching from him. That mainly comes from Hennessey, who joined Heath’s staff when he took over at Villa Grove, and defensive coordinator Shane Halcomb. Heath said he’ll butt heads with Max from time to time, so rather than getting upset when Max makes a mistake, he tries his best to focus on being his dad first.
“My wife has always told me to let my assistants coach him,” Heath said. “Coach Hennessey told me this year, ‘I’ll make sure I coach Max, and you worry about everybody else.’ It’s been pretty nice just letting coach Hennessey and coach Halcomb be the ears while I stand back and watch.”
Now at the halfway point of the 2024 season, the Blue Devils are already in win-or-go-home mode. An 0-4 start wasn’t what they envisioned, even with a young team that only has five seniors.
Heath has made the playoffs every year he’s coached at Villa Grove, and his team needs to win all five remaining games if he wants to keep that streak alive. They did it last year, winning five in a row after starting 1-3, and this year’s run would have to start against Arcola (2-2) at 7 p.m. on Friday when the two Lincoln Prairie Conference teams kick off at Russ Ghere Field.
“We’re treating it as a playoff week,” Heath said. “We try to tell the kids now that it’s one game at a time. We can’t look ahead because the only thing that matters is this game Friday night against Arcola. We’ve just got to find ways to put points on the board and keep our defense off the field.”
No matter how this season shakes out, Heath is excited for another few years with Max by his side, this time making it happen on the field.
“It should be a fun four years,” Heath said, “especially with all the talent we have coming up.”
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