HOME OF THE JERSEY PANTHERS

Panther Football Family,

As I sat in church this morning listening to the sermon, I was reminded that winning and losing does not define us as a program.  What defines us is "who" we are.  I am so blessed to be the Head Football Coach of our Jersey Panthers.  We have endured some growing pains, and have had much success in the past 5 years.  The varsity program is struggling to win on Fridays...but I can tell you these boys win every day!  They bring their best to practice every day!  Football is not like other sports where you might have another game the next day or couple of days.  So when we lose it sticks with us all week.  The boys have to endure others poking fun at them, as well as, other ridicules and pressures.  It takes courage to go through a losing streak.  I have been through this before at other programs.  It is times like these when we need family...... the Panther Football Family!   It's easy to pat the boys on the back when things are going well..They need it more when things aren't going so well.  The difference between winning and losing is how other people treat you, or the looks they give you.  There is a "life" lesson to be taught here. Life is tough sometimes.  It's how we handle those tough times that matter.  Tough times don't last...tough people do!  We are going through and dealing with some adversity right now.  It's not about winning games, it's about winning people!

The bible says in Romans 5:3-5  Peace and Hope

³ Not only so, but we^[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
We have a young team with a lot of juniors and sophomores playing.  We will not make excuses.... and do not want or expect any sympathy....., especially from our opponents because of the success we have had the past 3 years!
The bible also says that all things work for the good.  We have to trust in Him that He is working for the good.  Looking back on my 29 year career and 5 head coaching jobs I can honestly say that when we get through this...we will be glad we went through this together and will appreciate things much more!
That being said, I have to say I was extremely proud of our fans last Friday against CM.  You hung around to the end and cheered for our boys, when most fans would have left.  We have several businesses and community members that have donated time and money to our program!  Most of whom want to be anonymous, which shows character.  We have moms cooking food, washing clothes, and loving the boys up after a tough loss.  We have volunteer coaches that put in countless hours away from their families to be with yours.  (For you football experts out there please know that we are always accepting applications for assistant football coaches.  Please call me directly at (217) 622-1615 if interested, thanks.)  We have volunteer dads that spend several hours making sure our new field logo is painted fresh on game day!  We have a supportive administration, led by Dr. Hopkins, and although financially strapped, willing to meet and discuss creative ways to keep building our program!  We have volunteer Jr. Panther Coaches that spend hours building our Jr Panther program.  We have our Spirits taking a more active role in our program.  Our community and volunteers stepped up and supported our Gold Cards and Bash4Cash which raised over $17,000!  We have school board member that can be seen at all hours of the day doing significant manual labor at our Sports Complex.  Many are putting up our logo, painting picnic tables/trash cans/ and hanging banners at the stadium to give it a Panther "Home" Feel !  Jersey downtown is painted blue and now have banners over main street!  Our JV team is doing well!  Our 7th and 8th grade Illini teams are doing well.  We have some great players coming through our program in the future.  I absolutely love our coaching staff!  Some are new and we are growing together as well!  Thanks to Panther Mike we have our own panther football blog.  Craig Baalman talks Panther Football on WJBM with our own radio show!!
I could ramble on and on about about how great the people are here at Jersey!  We will get through this.  God brought us to it....He will get us through it.
In the meantime, let's continue to love each other up like real families do!
THANK YOU!
Respectfully and Sincerely,
Dave Jacobs
Proud husband of Lisa Jacobs
Proud father of Hannah, Abby, and Noah Jacobs
Blessed Teacher and Head Football Coach of THE JERSEY PANTHERS
that's "who" I am 😀