Hall of fame football coach comes out of retirement to fill Pana opening

Posted by author January 29, 2025 Football

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Mark Ramsey, who is fifth all-time in Illinois football coaching wins, is returning to the sidelines to take over the Pana football program.

Ramsey, who retired from coaching after guiding Decatur St. Teresa to the 2022 Class 2A state championship — his second in his career — was approved by the Pana school board at Monday’s meeting.

“I think that Pana football is really exciting,” Ramsey said in a statement released by the Pana Community Unit School District on Monday. “There’s great support from the school board, administration, and the community. It’s a great situation to come into and to continue the success of the program.”

He replaces Pana’s all-time winningest coach, Trevor Higgins, who finished 78-18 over nine seasons. Higgins stepped down in December, citing time constraints with his job and family.

When Higgins heard the rumors that Ramsey was interested in the job, he was happy to know the program he left would be in good hands. Higgins has plenty of history with Ramsey: Higgins, who graduated from Moweaqua Central A&M in 2003, played on the 2001 runner-up team Ramsey coached, and his Panthers lost to St. Teresa in the 2022 2A quarterfinals.

“I never would have guessed that it would have been him to be next, but I’m excited for the kids to have the experience that I did to play underneath him, and I mean, why wouldn’t you go after him, right,” Higgins said by phone on Tuesday. “Hall of Fame coach, multiple state runs, multiple state championships, and I’m excited for the kids and the community, and I’ll be their No. 1 fan on the outside of the fence.”

With 332 wins (against 113 losses), Ramsey brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Panthers’ program, which has qualified for the postseason the last nine straight full seasons, including reaching the quarterfinals in four of the last five seasons.

Ramsey began his career in 1983 at Moweaqua High School. Moweaqua and Assumption combined in 1991 to become Central A&M. In 1992, Ramsey reached the state title game for his first time, losing 20-6 to Richmond-Burton in the Class 2A championship. Following two more runner-up finishes in 1995 and ‘96, the Raiders broke through in 1997 and beat St. Joseph-Ogden 35-28 to cap a 14-0 season and win his first state championship. He led the Raiders back to second place in the state in 2001.

Following the 2012 season, Ramsey went to Shelbyville and helped the Rams make the playoffs in 2014 and 2015 and left for St. Teresa, where he immediately took the Bulldogs to the 1A playoffs and finished second to Forreston. In his final season, he won his second state championship and beat Downs Tri-Valley 29-22, for his second 14-0 finish.

So, what can Pana fans expect?

“(Ramsey is a) very detail-oriented, terrific X-and-O guy, understands the game of football and taught it really well to the players, and then surrounded himself with other coaches who were experts at their positions,” Higgins said. “(That is) another reason why I think that’s a perfect fit for him, to be able to have the coaching staff down there, also for him to bring coach (Mike) Conlon, who was also my defensive coordinator when I was in high school, to bring him along too, I just see a win-win for Pana football.”

The Illinois High School Football Coaches Association class of 2007 Hall of Fame inductee sits nine wins away from passing longtime Sterling Newman coach Michael Papoccia for No. 4 on the state’s all-time wins list.

“This is obviously something that he’s been born to do,” Higgins said of Ramsey. “He’s been coaching a long time, and I’m just happy that he gets another shot at it.”

In another interesting twist, Pana opens its season with a Week 0 scrimmage against Central A&M.

This story will be updated Wednesday.

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.