Former SIU coach Rey Dempsey, now a preacher, continues life after the passing of his spouse

story by Zack Creglow

Rey Dempsey waited to be honored with the SIU players he coached during the 1983 Division I-AA national championship season Sept. 27.

The players from that team are men now, some of whom traveled great lengths to walk onto the field with their former coach and teammates.

Many fans remembered the coach and the players who brought the University its lone national championship in football.

“They came out of every aisle to say hello,” Dempsey said.

But during their wait, thunderheads developed early in the first quarter of the SIU vs. St. Joseph’s game. Later in the quarter, lightning began to strike in every direction, except for straight over McAndrew Stadium.

To those watching the game, it seemed imminent that a massive thunderstorm would strike down upon McAndrew and postpone or even cancel the game, which would in turn rain in on the 1983 squad’s parade.

Rain poured down and thunder and lightning wailed upon cities as close as Marion, but in the skies above Carbondale, it held up for the 1983 team.

At halftime, Dempsey and the players were able to walk out to the middle of the field dry as P.A. announcer Steve Falat echoed out their names.

“It was a great honor,” Dempsey said. “I was very appreciative of the players and their thoughts toward me. To see how they’ve grown in their lives and professions using the principles we taught them was humbling.”

The fact the weather held up seemed to be an act of divine intervention because a few short minutes after all of them stepped off the field, McAndrew turned into a monsoon.

To say it was an act where something greater helped hold those storm clouds from flooding the field isn’t an overstatement.

To people like Dempsey, acts of divine intervention happen quite often – he is in the business.

He also experienced one first-hand in 1979.

The fourth-year coach at the time was on his way to see former Chicago Bears great Gale Sayers be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.

During the trip, he felt something he couldn’t explain; instead of sickness or any physical feeling, it was spiritual.

Dempsey was a churchgoer since he first started coaching at SIU. But the unexplained feeling that overcame him was something he needed to discuss with his wife, Marion.

The two discussed what had happened and went into prayer to find out what the Lord wanted to tell Dempsey.

It was at that time Dempsey realized he was destined for a life in ministry.

But his departure to that life wasn’t sudden. He continued to coach the Salukis.

During his tenure at SIU, it was the golden years of the program. The team recorded 54 wins between 1976 and 1983. In the 20 years after him, the school has only managed 73 victories.

The highlight of Dempsey’s career at SIU was obviously the 1983 team. He still calls that year the high-water mark of his coaching career.

“When I think about the ’83 team, I think of players who sold out and were truly dedicated,” Dempsey said. “We had what we called a ‘love/discipline relationship.’ I am close with them, but I never babied them.”

The accomplishment was a sign that it was time to move on for Dempsey. A year later, he left to coach at Memphis State, though that lasted just two years.

Then another calling came out to Dempsey, but this time it was the city of Westerville, Ohio. A church there was in need of a minister after its minister had passed away with cancer, and Dempsey answered the call.

“I was a football coach who was Christian,” Dempsey said. “I had other offers to go other places, and my wife and I would pray about it. But this time we felt we were called into ministry and led to Westerville.”

He ministered at Christ the King Church for 13 years and was influential around the area, helping improve cross-cultural relationships and spawn racial reconciliation.

Ministering and coaching were not that different in Dempsey’s eyes.

“You motivate a congregation and motivate football players. You always try to get them to best their best,” Dempsey explains. “In football you try to get them to be greater players and people. The same thing applies here; you try to get them to love the Lord more and put the practice of the Bible into daily life.”

Dempsey was a name known all around the greater Columbus area in Ohio. Even Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel is friends with him.

“Pastor Rey used to do chapels for them,” said Bennett Smith, who was junior pastor under Dempsey before taking over for him after he retired.

But even leaders have moments of weakness, and Dempsey was no different.

In January of 2001, Marion, his wife of 42 years, died from ovarian cancer.

It didn’t seem right that she’d pass at the age of 59. According to Dempsey, she didn’t even take a sip of alcohol, smoke or do drugs in her lifetime, and she kept herself in shape by running three days a week.

“He remained faithful to the church, but he had to deal with her loss,” Smith said. “I would definitely say his faith was tested. He was tough, but he would communicate his heart through hymns.”

But Dempsey is an old football coach, and typically coaches don’t show much emotion. He’d communicate how he felt but did so with subtlety.

“You can’t really carry a sign saying what had happened,” Dempsey said. “I knew God couldn’t make any mistakes, and I trusted him. I never got into those ‘Why did you do it.’ We had faith she would be healed, but ultimate healing is going onto Heaven.

“We just don’t say that as an excuse when people aren’t healed.”

He was able to move on, though it wasn’t easy. He credits his faith for it, and miraculously, within a year of Marion’s death, Dempsey fell in love for a second time, this time with a woman that attended his congregation. In 2001, Rey and Annie Dempsey were married.

Though retired, Dempsey still strives to better conditions in Westerville and is a board member on the Ohio board of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Dempsey’s theory of coaching football is a good indication of why he has touched so many people and had the strength to move on.

“You can’t just care about their play; you have to care about their life,” Dempsey said.

Reporter Zack Creglow can be reached at [email protected]