For Bonamego, old and new teams come together at Quick Lane Bowl media opportunity
Central Michigan Head Coach John Bonamego speaks with the media at the Detroit Lions Facility and Headquarters in Allen Park.
ALLEN PARK — Inside a building he’s very familiar with, John Bonamego wondered — as he walked into the broadcast studio at the Detroit Lions Practice Facility and Headquarters — if he’d ever been in the room before.
He concluded it was his second time in the room. The first was in April 2013 — the day Jason Hanson announced his retirement while Bonamego was the special teams coordinator for the Detroit Lions. And Wednesday, the Central Michigan Head Football Coach was there again to talk to the media about the Dec. 28 Quick Lane Bowl.
“I’m excited to be in this building today as I (was) probably the day I got the job at Central,” Bonamego said. “It’s great to be back in Detroit.”
Bonamego was one of six to speak at Wednesday’s media availability, which included comments from Detroit Lions Head Coach Jim Caldwell, who called Bonamego a “battler.”
“We text back and forth and watch his games when we get a chance,” Caldwell said. “It’s great to see him doing well, which I knew he would. Having the chance to go back and coach your alma mater is pretty special. That’s really been special for John, but it’s also special for them because he’s a special guy.”
Bonamego had the chance to meet Minnesota Head Coach Tracy Claeys for the first time, Wednesday, and the two talked about a former player both had the opportunity to coach.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Assistant Defensive Line Coach Paul Spicer played for and coached alongside Bonamego in Jacksonville and was coached in college under Claeys at Saginaw Valley State. Claeys had been an assistant coach for Jerry Kill for 21 years at SVSU, Emporia State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois and Minnesota.
Kill announced his resignation from the Minnesota head coaching position Oct. 28 due to health reasons and Claeys was named the new head coach Nov. 11.
“My career started at Saginaw Valley State about 20 years ago with Coach Kill and we hosted the Lions for camp up there at that time and I just happened to be the liaison that worked with the Lions,” Claeys said. “I still see a lot of familiar faces with that.”
Claeys said he formed his connection with the Lions at that time, giving both coaches in the Detroit Lions owned and operated bowl game connections to the NFL team.
He said the opportunity taught him a lot, as he had to arrange for larger beds and more food for the NFL players than his team was used to.
Wednesday’s event brought back memories for Bonamego, also, as he talked to former players and received texts from many more. Athletics Director Dave Heeke described the morning as “emotional,” with everything coming full circle for Bonamego with his former team and current team in the same place.
Bonamego said he was pleased to see many former co-workers, from Caldwell to the security director.
“You work with people hand-in-hand every single day — whether it’s Coach Caldwell or even Elton Moore who’s our security director here and even a lot of the working media that you see every day — you haven’t seen them in a long time. I’m a people person by nature, so it’s just good to be able to see people that you care about that you haven’t seen in awhile.”
