Seidel: CMU coach John Bonamego focused on beating cancer

On Wednesday morning, Central Michigan football coach John Bonamego underwent a 20-minute radiation treatment at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor. He is fighting a cancer that started in his tonsil and spread to a lymph node.

A few hours later, he attended the Mid-American Conference media day at Ford Field.

"It's learning to manage discomfort early on," Bonamego said. "And now, it's learning to deal with pain."

Bonamego, 51, looked strong and healthy, if only because he is a thick, barrel-chested boulder of a man. He met with the media and did countless interviews, patiently going over the same details, over and over. He was honest and direct, showing no emotion. That's his way.

"I've lived my life with two principles," Bonamego said. "I don't believe you run away from the truth, and I've never backed down from a challenge. This is just another challenge."

His mouth is filled with painful canker sores from the radiation. He lost his taste buds weeks ago and doesn't have an appetite. At times, his voice grew hoarse and weak; and he paused several times to take a drink of water because his mouth was dry.

"I'm going to keep most of my suffering private," he said. "I feel OK. This is a deal where the more you get into it, it gets progressively worse. I have my good hours and my bad half-hours. You can be going along really good and then you just feel terrible."

A good prognosis

Every day, he lives the same hell. Bonamego wakes up at 4:30 a.m. and gets in a car about 20 minutes later. Then, somebody drives him from Mt. Pleasant to the cancer center at U-M.

"The drive, honestly, back and forth, is as taxing in the early stages as anything else," he said. "I've been fortunate that I have a healthy pool of volunteers to drive me down. I'm able to rest on the way down and back."

Bonamego has radiation treatments Monday through Friday and gets chemotherapy once a week. "Every day that I go to the University of Michigan for treatment, I see a lot of people who are a lot worse off than me," he said. "I feel very fortunate on many fronts."

Back in Mt. Pleasant, he is in the office just about every day, resting when he's tired, working when he can gather the strength. "It does take a lot of effort every day to fight it," he said. "It can consume you if you allow it to. It's kind of hour by hour, sometimes, minute by minute in terms of how you feel."

When practice starts, he plans to be at the front of the room for every meeting and on the field for every practice. "I may be doing it from a golf cart, rather than walking around," he said. "We will kind of problem solve as we go along."

He will end his treatments Aug. 21. Then, CMU will open its season Sept. 3 against Oklahoma State at home.

His prognosis is good. "The particular one that I have, the success rate is in the 90s, so I like that, for an opening game," he said. "Those are good odds to have."

A rough off-season

It has been a dramatic and tragic off-season for CMU. Losing a heartbreaker in the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl on a failed two-point conversion, 49-48. Losing a head coach when Dan Enos bolted to Arkansas to become the offensive coordinator. Getting a first-time head coach in Bonamego, who had coached the Lions' special teams for two seasons. And finding out that Bonamego has cancer.

In June, CMU football player Derrick Nash died from leukemia and was buried in Saginaw. The entire team went to the funeral.

"It was a rough few hours for guys, very emotional but also uplifting," quarterback Cooper Rush said. "It was a tough day, but we got through it as a team."

Bonamego doesn't want to be compared with Nash. "If I have half the fight in me that Derrick did, I'm going to make it through this really easy," he said.

Then, defensive back Brandon Greer was charged with two felonies after he allegedly tried to abduct a woman — he has since been kicked off the team.

"It's a resilient bunch," Bonamego said. "They work really hard, they are a close group. I think kids can handle a lot, as long as you are honest with them."

So he is honest and direct and has turned into a great example of perseverance, showing this team the power of positive thinking.

"I don't think there is a better model about positivity and motivation," center Nick Beamish said. "Like Derrick, Coach is a fighter. It's unbelievable. We will all draw on that."

And Bonamego has the same message for anybody going through the same thing: Never give up; never give up.

Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff.

MAC preseason picks

East Division

1. Bowling Green (18) 160

T2. Ohio (1) 118

T2. Akron (2) 118

4. UMass (3) 113

5. Buffalo 70

6. Miami 47

7. Kent State 46

MAC West Division

1. Toledo (11) 121

2. Western Mich. (8) 120

3. N. Illinois (4) 113

4. Ball State 66

5. Central Mich. (1) 56

6. Eastern Mich. 28

2015 Marathon MAC championship game winner: Toledo (9); Western Michigan (8); Northern Illinois (6); Central Michigan (1).