A man of character: Family and friends commemorate life and legacy of former SIU baseball coach Dan Callahan

Prior to April of 2022, SIU didn’t have a single jersey retired in Saluki baseball history. Then came legendary head coach Richard “Itchy” Jones’ retirement last year. Now 350 days later, his former assistant and eventual Saluki head coach, Dan Callahan joins Itchy’s side as the second Saluki ever to have their number retired.

Callahan’s number 37 jersey will never be worn again by a Saluki baseball player and will forever be cemented in right field of Itchy Jones stadium, right next to Jones’ number 1 jersey from the year prior. The Saluki clubhouse at Itchy Jones stadium is also named after Callahan himself, another way his legacy will live on through SIU.

The Springfield native ranks second in SIU history in wins all-time, amassing a 442-447-1 record during his 16-year tenure with Southern Illinois. Before that, he got his start as a head coach at Eastern Illinois, where he was for six seasons before moving back to SIU.

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In his time in Carbondale, Callahan produced 23 Major League draft picks, 19 First-Team All-MVC selections and became just the fifth coach in MVC history to win over 200 conference games, earning a total of 207 against Missouri Valley teams. Coach Cal did so well in conference, the current coach of the year award for the MVC is named after him.

But his success on the field wasn’t what Coach Cal was best known for. It was for how he lived and breathed being a Saluki, whether it be through Saluki Baseball, or the university itself.

Mike Reis, director of broadcast operations at SIU Athletics said, “The entire Callahan family knows what he meant to Saluki Baseball. To its players, to its coaches, those with a stake in it. Maybe even more than that, they knew what SIU meant to Cal; how he sweat it, how he bled, how he celebrated this place. He worked to make it better, not just SIUs baseball program, the entire university. Southern meant the world to Cal, even when SIU didn’t reciprocate.”

Unfortunately, due to a battle with neurotropic melanoma, a rare form of skin cancer, he died in 2011 at the age of 52 in his home in Carterville after an extremely hard-fought battle. He earned the MVC Most Courageous award, which is given to a coach, student-athlete, or administrator that demonstrates unusual courage in a time of adversity, tragedy, or personal illness.

Those that knew the coach best knew him as a man of many different admirable traits who cared about a lot of different things in his life.

“We feel proud. Outside of his family, this was his life. He spent most of his waking hours at the baseball diamond. We aren’t sad about today, obviously we miss him, his daughters miss him. there’s a sense of pride that we’re here today,” said Cheri Callahan-Bustos, one of the coach’s sisters.

The entire Callahan family showed out for the occasion. From his sisters and their spouses, to his wife Stacy, daughters Alexa and Carly, and even granddaughter Zoe, who got to throw out the first pitch before the game, were there.

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“As soon as this game would have been over, we’d all be popping a beer together,” said Callahan-Bustos.

As mentioned before, Callahan’s jersey will sit alongside one of his greatest allies at SIU, coach Itchy Jones, whom he met as a graduate assistant back in 1986. Jones paved the way for Callahan to earn the job at Eastern and to ultimately come back to Southern years later. Having his name alongside Jones’ only feels right for those in his family.

“Itchy is a legend, not only at Southern Illinois or in the conference, but nationally. And to have his image right next to Itchy’s, it’s a day of pride for the Callahan family,” said Callahan-Bustos.

There are many phrases Callahan would consistently use towards his players and co-workers. Many of them still stick to this day.

“Cal used to say a lot of things. ‘Don’t be afraid to swing hard, you might hit it’ was one of his favorites. And whenever a guy booted a ball, he’d say ‘Is that a glove or is that a skillet?’ But the best phrase, and the one he seems to be most quoted for is ‘Just do the right thing.’”

His sisters concur with that mission to do the right thing

“I think it’s a great message for his own daughters, for his sisters, for his family, and everybody here. If we all just lived our life doing the right thing we’d all be okay,” said Callahan-Bustos.

His other sister, Lynn Callahan said, “I think a lot of the players would say Dan not only made us good baseball players, he made us good men.”

Callahan-Bustos concurred, “He always wanted to make sure his players did well in school, so it wasn’t just being a good athlete, but doing well in school and being good people.”

A friend of the family said, “I think he’s the ultimate man of character. First guy in my life that held the line on character.”

The Salukis are certainly trying to live out Callahan’s mantra of “doing the right thing” by retiring the jersey of not only one of the greatest coaches, but one of the greatest people to ever be a part of Saluki history.

Sports editor Joseph Bernard can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Jojobernard2001. 

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