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Kern: Why wouldn't Villanova name its football facility after Talley?

YES, IT WAS SUPPOSED to be a secret. But really, was there ever any doubt whose name was going to be attached to the $18 million building at the west end zone of Villanova Stadium, which was dedicated late Friday afternoon?

YES, IT WAS SUPPOSED to be a secret. But really, was there ever any doubt whose name was going to be attached to the $18 million building at the west end zone of Villanova Stadium, which was dedicated late Friday afternoon?

C'mon, already. As no-brainers go, this is was right up there with the Jake Nevin Arena.

So the Wildcats' new, state-of-the-art, much-needed facility will be named the Andrew J. Talley Athletic Center, for the man who took the school's football program from resurrected status at a different level in 1984 to 226 wins, 11 NCAA playoff appearances and an FCS national championship seven years ago.

It only makes too much sense, for all the obvious reasons. Just as there is a statue to Jumbo Elliott now residing nearby.

The center will be utilized by all of the university's other 21 sports besides men's and women's basketball (which already has the nearby Davis Center to call home). But it probably doesn't get completed if not for football's contributions to the whole.

"At first, the decision was at the direction of our anonymous ($10 million) donor," athletic director Mark Jackson said. "But it immediately gained support from everybody in the Villanova community. To have somebody do it for 30-plus years, and do it the right way, that doesn't happen. He's built a wonderful tradition. And this building can go a long way to enhancing that. And he gets to sit in his own building. How many guys can say that? But he's every bit as deserving as anyone who's ever coached the game. He saw the needs for this, and went out aggressively seeking the funds (for it to become a reality)."

Talley, whose 16th-ranked Wildcats (5-2, 3-1 Colonial Athletic Association) host No. 23 Albany (4-2, 1-2) on Saturday afternoon, is retiring after the season and handing the keys to longtime assistant Mark Ferrante. But he'll remain around for another year to help with the transition. He even has an office emeritus. And he, of course, can continue the fight to save lives with his "Be The Match" bone-marrow donor program, which already has made a world of difference to so many. That should remain his most relevant legacy.

Still, this tribute is forever, too. And it was a time for him to reflect on a life well spent.

"I think we've always been an overachieving program," he said. "I really haven't thought about this moment. It's funny. The season has been so consuming, I'm still trying to get us right so we can make a run . . . I'm a blue-collar kid from just down the road (in Haverford) who used to sneak into football games here. In the summer, we used to sneak into the old swimming pool. It was swim in Darby Creek or sneak into Villanova. Who would ever think that kid would be the coach at this school?"

When he arrived, there was nothing except a place to play in. Before that, the football coach shared an office with the track and field staff a block away. That would soon change.

"They were building the Pavilion," Talley recalled. "And I said to (then-AD) Ted Aceto, 'Give me two carptenters.' There was a space underneath (the northeast section of stands), but it was all dirt floor to the end. I showed him. They had oil drums and stuff in here, stored over the years. He said he'd see if he could get me some money. I think it was $250,000. They'd come in every day. I'd say, 'OK, move this over here, put that over there.' And all six coaches were in the back room, in little cubbyholes. They wanted to set us up in a trailer but I told them no way. But for us, that was like the new age. I was excited to have that. So that was our new facility back then. Who would ever think we'd be getting this?"

Interestingly, Talley's era was bookended by the two national basketball titles, at what is very much a basketball-first institution. Yet there's no denying that his presence also played a part in establishing an identity and making an impact, whether it was all the victories or the three Walter Payton Award winners or saving those lives. Matt Szczur gave Villanova and Talley's Be-The-Match work a shoutout from the Chicago Cubs dugout during Thursday night's Game 5 of the NLCS. And former NFL star Howie Long, who didn't even play for Talley, donated $1 million to this endeavor. His picture hangs in the weight room, and he thought enough to show up for the ribbon-cutting. Those kind of things say a whole bunch.

"I remember running my 40-yard dash in Jake Nevin because we didn't have anything else," Long said. "To see where this has come and the excitement it generates is really tremendous for all of us. His impact on generations of young men and what they took with them coming out of the program, it doesn't happen without Andy."

Said Talley: "I actually think this will solidify Villanova football until the end of time. Now, football will not be touched. It's really safe. Being a national place, you have to have football. This is amazing.

"My family is so low-key. They always have kind of a saying, 'It's all about you.' Because that's all I talk about is football. They go, 'Could you please talk about something else" Like, the grass isn't growing or we should plant some flowers.' Football consumes you like that, and I feel bad about it. They used to come to all the games. But (my two children) have their own lives now. It's not like they can just watch football again and again and again."

Maybe not. But one day their grandkids will be able to go see Talley's name, exactly where it should be. And they can tell them what that means. Amazing, indeed.

@mikekerndn