Nightingale Embarking on 1st Season as College Football Head Coach
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
July 10, 2024
CJ Nightingale's family values, small-town upbringing and Christian faith steered the Mendon native into a career coaching college football.
Nightingale, a 2010 Mendon High School graduate, is busily preparing for his first season as Belhaven University's eighth football coach. He was officially named the Blazers' head coach seven months ago, on Jan. 1.
Belhaven, a Division III school located in Jackson, Mississippi, competes in the USA South Athletic Conference.
Nightingale credits his love of coaching to his father Chris Nightingale and grandfather Charles Nightingale.
"It all started with my dad and grandfather. At one time they were both involved in coaching, and their general love for sports wore off on me," CJ Nightingale said.
Once CJ reached high school, his interest in athletics only intensified thanks to several people who made a big impact on him.
"I had the most wonderful experience attending school and participating in Mendon athletics,” Nightingale said. “We didn't always have the better athletes, but we were successful because of all the time and commitment put in by our coaches, teachers, administration along with parental and community support. Success is the result of many people who focus on the same cause."
Nightingale lettered in football, basketball and baseball at Mendon, earning four varsity letters in all three sports. He was named the St. Joseph Valley League's MVP in all three sports his senior year, and Mendon earned league titles in all three during Nightingale's senior year as well.
As a starting quarterback and defensive back his sophomore year, Nightingale led Mendon to the 2007 Division 7 football championship with the Hornets' 20-0 win over Traverse City St. Francis. Nightingale still holds the state record for career interceptions with 27.
Mendon had finished the 2006 season 3-6. A losing season remains rare in Mendon, and Nightingale stated it fueled the Hornets' title run the following season.
"I think losing is more difficult in football than in any other sport because of how much work goes into preparing for a season,” Nightingale recalled. “We were a very young team in 2006 and got punched in the mouth. It wasn't the best feeling, but it was a real learning experience and served as a big driving force that next season.
"All the hard times we endured the previous year served as a byproduct for our success in 2007. That team was unselfish, and not one player on the team cared who got the stats or accolades."
𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐞!
Belhaven Athletics is excited to welcome Coach CJ Nightingale as the eighth Head Football Coach in program history
📰 | https://t.co/bZO6Jz16Fa#GoGreen | #d3fb | @BelhavenFB pic.twitter.com/lfQloZxVcD— Belhaven Blazers (@BelhavenBlazers) December 31, 2023
At Mendon, Nightingale played for legendary coach John Schwartz in football, David Swanwick in basketball and Glen Samson in baseball.
Lessons from Schwartz – a member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association's Hall of Fame – and Samson have especially stuck with Nightingale into adult life and his own coaching career.
"Coach Schwartz had a way of getting everyone on the same page not just on the field, but he taught you how to be the best version of yourself off the field in every-day life. Coach Samson knew how to get his players in the right positions on the diamond to make us successful," Nightingale said.
"The environment at Mendon solidified my desire to become a coach and teacher. The best leaders are also the best teachers, and when you are surrounded by people like that it makes a big difference."
Nightingale attended Wheaton College in Illinois, where he lettered in football four years as a defensive back and return specialist. During Nightingale's career, the Thunder posted a combined record of 34-8 and qualified for the NCAA Division III playoffs when he was a freshman.
After graduating college, Nightingale taught history and spent two years as the varsity football coach at Richmond High School in Indiana. In 2016 he secured his first collegiate coaching job at Greenville University (Ill.) as a defensive backs coach, where he spent one season. He then served as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at Indiana Wesleyan University beginning in 2017 before returning to his alma mater Wheaton in 2019 as the Thunder's defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach.
Nightingale coached 24 all-conference players, 10 all-region performers and seven All-Americans over his four seasons at Wheaton, and the Thunder made the Division III playoffs all four years.
The head football coaching position at Belhaven became available in December 2023 when previous coach Blaine McCorkle moved on to Division 1 Northwestern State (La.). Nightingale applied and went through a three-week interview process before being selected as the program’s next head coach.
"I truly feel like God has called my wife Shanel and I and our family here for a reason. We are going to pour into Belhaven as deeply as we can and see what life brings us,” CJ Nightingale said. “As a college football coach, you have the unique chance to pour into your players spiritually, academically, athletically and socially. That's what is really special about this profession."
Belhaven's program has enjoyed a lot of success, especially the past three seasons with a combined 24-7 record, including a 9-2 finish last fall.
"I am very fortunate to be taking over a strong program here at Belhaven. You don't sustain success, but rather you must be able to build on it," Nightingale said. "We are excited about this season after a great spring. This group of coaches and players got a lot done these past six months. We have had a lot of guys here on campus all summer working to get better. There are lot of goals in front of us that haven't been achieved yet. Two of those goals are to go undefeated in conference play and host a playoff game.”
CJ and Shanel have three children, including 5-year old daughter Charlotte, 3-year old son Trey and 14-month old daughter Coco. They are expecting a fourth child in mid-September.
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PHOTOS (Top) At left, Mendon’s CJ Nightingale (2) celebrates during his team’s 2007 championship win over Traverse City St. Francis at Ford Field; at right Nightingale is pictured with his wife Shanel and children Charlotte, Trey and Coco. (Middle) Nightingale makes an open-field tackle against the Gladiators in the 2007 Division 7 Final. (Family photo courtesy of CJ Nightingale.)
Bills Steps Into Key Role in Hudson Backfield, Steps Up to Make All-State
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
December 11, 2024
HUDSON – Hudson has a storied football history, with tales filled with state championships, a winning streak that gained national fame and lists of all-state players.
The most unlikely all-stater of all is probably from this fall. Grayson Bills, a 5-foot-9, 160-pound junior, wasn’t even in the Tigers’ starting lineup when the season began. In fact, in Week 1, he didn’t touch the ball on offense.
“I figured I would just be playing on defense, and it was going to be a defensive kind of year,” said Bills.
The featured back in coach Dan Rogers’ T backfield was set to be Brennan Marshall. He was a 1,000-yard rusher in 2023 and was primed for a big senior season. However, at some point during the summer Marshall began experiencing headaches and blackouts. Although he was in the starting lineup in Week 1, he left the game early. It was later discovered he had a brain tumor.
With him out, Rogers turned to Bills, a player who had previously benefitted from the MHSAA rule that allows players to play in five quarters a week.
“Last year I was a five-quarter guy,” Bills said. “I would play the JV game and then usually go up and get into the varsity game. I carried the ball some of my sophomore year. I would get in toward the end of the game.”
In Week 2, Bills was in the starting lineup and responded with 130 yards on 20 carries. By Week 5, he was the top rusher in Lenawee County after rushing for 172 yards on just six carries against Blissfield – including touchdown runs of 50, 30 and 55 yards. He wore down the Adrian Madison defense in Week 6 with 230 yards and three touchdowns. He followed that up with a 211-yard effort against Clinton that clinched the Lenawee County Athletic Association championship and was still going strong when Hudson beat Union City for the District championship, as he rushed for 226 yards.
“After about Week 3, I knew that I could have a great year. It was nice to see all of the hard work pay off,” Bills said. “I just needed the opportunity to show what I could do.”
Rogers was ecstatic about the running back Bills became.
“He had a very good sophomore year for us on JV,” Rogers said. “This year, we expected him to add depth at running back. When he got his opportunity, he made the best of it.”
He finished the season with 1,784 yards rushing, averaging 9.5 per carry, and also was Hudson’s top receiver. He earned all-state honors from the Michigan Sports Writers.
“I was definitely satisfied,” Bills said. “I think I had a really good first year of starting. I know I’m going to come back next year and be better.”
Bills learned football in the backyard with his dad. He fell in love with the sport at a young age and has developed into a two-way player. He plays cornerback on defense.
While he still has a season left on the field, Rogers said Bills will forever be an example to future Hudson players to be ready when called upon.
“He waited his turn, he was patient, then when it came, he was ready for it,” Rogers said. “He was ready for the moment. We didn’t know for sure, but he was. He showed it.”
Bills already has started running and weightlifting for next season, when he will go into the season not only as the featured back, but with a target on his back from running over so many opponents this season.
If he’s being honest, Bills said, he was a little nervous at first.
“I was a little nervous,” he said. “This was my first time playing in front of the big crowds.”
Next year, Bills will be the one drawing them.
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Hudson running back Grayson Bills looks upfield while carrying the ball against Schoolcraft in their Regional Final this season. (Middle) Bills races Napoleon defenders during a District Semifinal win. (Photos by Deloris Clark-Cheaney.)