Uni football team rallies again for cancer-stricken coach

IRVINE - University's football team was on the field Wednesday afternoon conducting practice without one of its key members.

Chris Conlin, the team's defensive coordinator, wasn't at practice as the Trojans prepared for Thursday's Pacific Coast League game with Beckman at Tustin.

Instead, Conlin was undergoing treatments for neck cancer. It is the first week of a seven-week plan of radiation and chemotherapy treatments, Conlin said.

Conlin, who has also been head baseball coach at University for 23 years, disclosed Sunday that he had been diagnosed with cancer about a month ago. Conlin, 58, said he plans to be at as many practices and football games as he can.

He has told Coach Mark Cunningham that if he's up to it, he will be at Thursday's game.

Conlin is the second University coach to deal with cancer in the past two seasons. Last season, Cunningham waged a battle against throat cancer, forcing him to miss half of the season. Cunningham has since received a clean bill of health.

But he can relate to the battle that Conlin, who shares the athletic director duties with Cunningham, faces.

"I kind of know what he's going through," Cunningham said Wednesday. "He's obviously a really positive person and he knows he's going to get through this and he's going to come on the right end of it. He's got a rough road ahead of him. But with his outlook and his attitude, he's going to be fine.

"Any cancer is serious. I don't care if they tell you it's stage one or stage four. Just hearing a doctor tell you that you have that darkness inside you is just scary and it doesn't matter if it's a little bit or a lot. It's a frightening feeling. He's not going to go through the same treatments that I did, but he's going to go through the same radiation that I did. And he's also going to have some chemo."

Cunningham believes that his ability to survive his battle with cancer "has got to be encouraging" to Conlin.

Cunningham knows that's it's tough for his players, who have "had to deal with something that they're not used to dealing with," for the second year in a row,

Conlin's absence during practice was definitely felt by the players.

"He's missed," Cunningham said.

Cunningham has not named a new defensive coordinator. He expects that Conlin will be at Thursday's game with Beckman. But he will likely miss practice time because of treatments and doctors appointments.

"Once he's not here, I'll figure that out," Cunningham said. "But right now, I know he's going to be here Thursday night and we'll see how next week goes. We're at the point in our season that we pretty much know what we're going to do and how we're going to adjust to a variety of situations. So we can limp along if that's what we have to do."

Cunningham believes Conlin's positive outlook will help him. He is providing support, like Conlin did for him during his battle with the disease.

"He has a great attitude," Cunningham said. "When I was going through it, I hit some pretty bad times and I was pretty depressed and he and I would talk. I would say something that wasn't all that positive and he would shoot back, 'you're alive and kicking right now and you're going to be OK. Just be grateful for what you have right now.' He was always a positive force for me and he checked me when I wanted to be down and I was grateful for that."

The University players, who supported Cunningham, are now doing the same for Conlin.

"Coach Conlin is very strong about what he's going through right now," said senior linebacker Tyler Machado. "He's very dedicated to the sport and he's fighting this, but it seems like he's not fighting it because he's so strong. I believe he's going to fight through it and he's going to do well. He's been my coach for three years, he's done a lot of stuff for me and I hope he comes back because he's a person who was there for me.

"He turned me into a man from what I was when I was a freshman. As a freshman, I was very immature but he disciplined me, not harshly, but in a way to become a leader of the defense and what I am now."

Machado said Conlin told the linebackers of his condition.

"It was very heartbreaking to us," Machado said. "We were emotional because we know in the past Coach Cunningham has gone through the same exact same thing. It's been very difficult."

Machado believes that Conlin will win the battle.

"He has an amazing attitude," Machado said. "He is extremely dedicated to this program."