November 5, 1998

Mirroring the success had by Villanova head football coach Andy Talley and his Wildcat football team on the gridiron, is his hard work and dedication for another battle off the field; The battle for the Bone Marrow Donor Program. In his sixth year fighting for this noble cause, Talley has taken the program from an idea and made it a reality.

Talley began his involvement with the Bone Marrow Donor Program in 1992, after hearing a radio show concerning the subject of leukemia. Listening to the voices echo how many more lives could be spared if more donors could just be found, Talley saw a battle worth fighting. Getting in touch with the HCL (Human Leukocyte Antigens) Registry Foundation, he took the next step by raising over $10,000 in the program's inaugural year to determine the blood type of 200 individuals. The Wildcat football team, and coaching staff, as well as the Villanova student community served as the base of his unique program.

"I have been involved with a lot of different charities, but this is the toughest because of the numbers involved and the money needed for it to take off," said Talley. "Our football program has 95 players so I saw an opportunity to utilize the 95 we have every year, by going out and finding as many potential donors as we can."

Due to the success the program had in its first year, Talley secured a $60,000 grant in 1993 and organized the "Football United for Life" campaign. This campaign attracted a large number of student-athletes from every facet of the Villanova athletic program. In addition, "Football United for Life" also included football teams from the University of Pennsylvania, West Chester University, Swarthmore College, Cheyney University, Ursinus College and Delaware Valley College.

"If every player on a team can get about 10 people, you can get 700 or 800 people on any given testing day," said Talley. "We started out by trying to get other college football teams involved, but it's hard to get them to do what we have been able to do because it takes such a tremendous commitment from everyone."

Not getting the response from other schools, what Talley did instead was to use the resources that he has available to him to their fullest. He received commitments from the Villanova University Alumni Association and the 50 United States Villanova Alumni Chapters to help raise the money to support his annual spring drive

"The bone marrow donor list was less than one million in 1992, but that number has improved to two million in a six year span which means more people are getting involved," said Talley. "Two million is just a drop in a bucket though, when you realize that the United States population is 200-300 million."

In 1996, Talley's program had its most successful year, producing over 750 individuals. Since its beginning in 1992, the Bone Marrow Donor Program has gotten over 3,000 potential donors to be successfully tested and entered into the registry. Thanks in large part to the New Jersey registry that helped Talley get involved with the fight for bone marrow donors and to numerous Villanova alumni groups, the Bone Marrow Donor Program has been able to build upon its successes.

"From time to time, the HCL in New Jersey has come up with the money to sponsor each test which amounts to $30 per test," said Talley. "We also have a couple alumni groups in Boston and Connecticut that put on a golf tournament each year to help raise money for our cause."

Despite the busy schedule of a successful college football program, Talley and the Wildcats have found the time to give back. Choosing the spring as their target date for testing, Villanova continually goes to work. Under the direction of Talley, the Wildcat football team gets the student body, faculty and administration to become involved in this worthy cause. Through the use of commitment forms, the Cats hold people to the task. Once an individual signs on to help, they give just one vile of blood and are on the donor list until the age of 60.

"We found the best time to do it was the spring," said Talley. "We have opted to do it every other year because it takes to much time and so much money. We don't have any foundation. It is just myself and two secretaries. We just do it our own little way."

Talley's program has had so much success so quickly that it would seem a national campaign would be at hand. Although on the forefront, leukemia and the search for bone marrow is an issue that not many people know about. Teamed with the fact that it takes such a money and time commitment, it is often hard to get people involved.

"My aspirations were to be far more national in our approach, but you don't find many people who really understand the situation. Normally it takes a famous person needing a transplant to attract attention, which is a shame. It happened a couple of years ago when the famous baseball player Rod Carew's daughter died. People don't realize that the odds of finding a bone marrow donor for someone with a life threatening bone marrow disease like Leukemia is one in 20,000. For African Americans, Hispanics and Asians, the odds are even worse at one in one million."

Despite not being able to cure the disease or even make his campaign national, what Talley has done is quite remarkable. For even after the college football season ends in November, the job of a head coach is far from being over. Talley compares his work in the Bone Marrow Donor Program to the game he knows and loves, football.

"This is a tough charity to be a part of because it is so hard to get people involved. I compare it to the challenge of coaching football. You don't always get the result that you want, but you keep trying and keep pushing. It has been a one man operation and I haven't been able to get people to jump aboard and help me. In our own little corner of the world, this is just Villanova doing what we can do."

With five NCAA Playoff appearances, and three conference championships under his belt since coming to Villanova in 1985, as well as the 1997 Eddie Robinson Award and AFCA/GTE Coach of the Year distinctions, Talley has garnered nearly every honor a coach can win. Above all the recognitions, however, and above any aspect of the football world is the feeling of what it would be like to save the life of another human being.

" This is the kind of thing where you are just trying to do what you can do in your own little way for the young. Leukemia is a disease of the young and this is my way of giving back to the people I spend so much time with," said Talley. "My hope is that one day I or one of my former players will be called upon to save a life. We can win all the championships or awards in the world, but saving someone's life would be the ultimate honor."