Mouring the Loss of Frank Will

By Gordon Englehardt Evansville Courier & Press

Frank Will’s short quips and sayings became the stuff of legend around Mater Dei High School. Mike Goebel said Will’s expressions were nicknamed “Will-isms.”

“He seemed to come up with a new one every day,” Goebel said. After a big victory, Mater Dei’s football players and coaches had their own saying: “Where there’s a Will, there’s a way.”

“Frank loved life. He was pretty bubbly,” said Goebel, who was Will’s offensive coordinator before succeeding him as Wildcats’ head coach in 1996.

On the other hand, former Mater Dei athletics director Joe Dippel said Will could come off as “mean” to those who didn’t know him. He said a few players from another school didn’t want to play for him in an all-star game but were hugging him after it was over.

On another occasion, Dippel was serving as a Wildcats assistant football coach during a reserve game in Vincennes. Standing at one end behind one of the goal posts, Will was yelling at the officials. One of them came over to Dippel on the sidelines and said, “Who is that guy?” Dippel said, “He’s the bus driver.” The official said, “Get him off the field.”

Will wore many hats. Not only was he head football coach, he was indeed the bus driver. He laundered the players' uniforms after a game. He was a handyman and equipment manager. He was considered a good teacher and family man.

“He was a really good psychologist,” Dippel said. “He knew how to handle people.”

Will played football for the University of Evansville, once against the University of Louisville’s Johnny Unitas, later a Baltimore Colts legend. He coached and taught at St. Ben's and Rex Mundi before settling at Mater Dei. As an assistant at Rex Mundi, Will helped coach Bob Griese, who like Unitas, is a Pro Football Hall of Famer.

“Frank was, putting it mildly, a throwback,” Goebel said. “He drove the team bus on game trips, he washed and cared for the uniforms, he laundered towels. Frank had his sons drive his truck around the practice field taking out and picking ups pads and equipment.”

Will guided Mater Dei to its first Class 2A state championship game appearance in 1994 and first unbeaten regular season in '84. Under his guidance, the Wildcats won seven sectional titles, four regionals and one semistate.

“Not only coach Will was a great coach, he was a great man,” said Jeff McDurmon, who was a running back, linebacker and team captain on the ’94 team. “He coached hard and expected us to play hard. Coach had a way with words that were comical with a point. One of my favorite quotes from coach when addressing the team was ‘You kids have potential, which means you are not very good!' Now let’s get back to work. “He then led us to a state football appearance at the RCA Dome.

He said he took care of his players like they were his own children. “He was very, very loyal,” Dippel said. He wasn’t afraid to delegate responsibility to his assistants. 17