Bob Monken, a member of one of America's foremost coaching families, died Sunday of Parkinson's disease. He was 86 years old.
Monken was the head coach at Lake Park High School in Illinois for 30 years, going 151-112. He won conference championships in three different decades. He spent two years prior as an assistant coach before ascending to the big chair.
Bob was among 13 Monkens who have coached high school, college or professional football. His son Todd, formerly the head coach at Southern Miss and a two-time national-championship winning offensive coordinator at Georgia, is now the offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. Ted Monken is the defensive coordinator at Glenbard South High School in Glen Ellyn, Ill., and Tony Monken is an assistant at Vernon Hills High School in Illinois. Bob's grandson Travis, Todd's son, is a student assistant at Oklahoma State. His nephew Jeff is the head coach at Army.
“He was the same person for all his players as he was to his sons,” Ted Monken told the Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald. “Tough but fair. He prepared all his ‘sons’ to be successful in life. Not at that particular moment, but for the rest of our lives."
Bob and his brothers Glen, Mike, Bill and Jim are all in the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
“Education and academics came first to Bob regardless of the 32 years (two as assistant at Lake Park) he was as a coach. He got that in the minds of his players, that the academics come first,” former Lake Park principal Marty Quinn told the Daily Herald.
“I think that was something all of us appreciated about Bob. It wasn’t just about football, it was about developing the character of your players. There’s life after football.”
Monken follows his wife of 61 years, Jo Ellen, in death. She passed in May of 2023.
A visitation for Bob Monken will be held from 2-6 p.m. Sunday at Hultgren Funeral Home in Wheaton. His funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 19 at St. John the Baptist Church in Winfield.
Please join the FootballScoop staff in keeping the Monkens in your thoughts.
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