Mike Monken, 77 years young, was on the sideline behind the Army bench all afternoon, pacing.

Just what you would expect from a good father and former football coach.

Monken’s son, Jeff, guided the Black Knights to a thrilling 21-17 victory last Saturday, ending Navy’s 14-year stranglehold on America’s Game.

“Jeff was kind enough to get me a sideline pass,” Mike said. “I couldn’t have sat there in the stands and watched it.

“Georgia Southern beat Florida when Jeff was the head coach there. A I-AA team is never supposed to beat a good Florida team. He’s had some other big wins in his career, and all of that has been exciting. But nothing was like this one.”

Monken, a longtime coach at Joliet East and Joliet Central, and his wife, Nancy, have lived in New Lenox since they came to this area, and Mike became the East coach in 1972. In the fall, however, road trips dominate the schedule. They traveled to watch their sons coach football all fall.

Tom Monken was the head coach at downstate Casey-Westfield. But he is an insurance agent by trade and decided to give up coaching after the recently completed season. Mom and Dad saw five of his team’s games.

Meanwhile, they have been in attendance for nine of Jeff’s 12 games, and they will be in Dallas on Dec. 27 for the Heart of Dallas Bowl against North Texas. Army enters with a 7-5 record.

“The win over Navy was a fantastic ending for Jeff’s third season at West Point,” Mike said. “But even last year, when his team was 2-10, they lost six games by seven points or less, and two of them were with no time on the clock.

“It was heartbreaking for him, but at the same time, he told people that this thing was moving in the right direction. This year, he started with three great wins over Temple, Wake Forest and Rice.”

But after the Rice game, starting Army cornerback Brandon Jackson, a sophomore, was killed in an automobile accident.

“Everyone was heartbroken,” Mike said. “He was such a good young man, and what a pleasant smile. He had played in every game as a freshman, started in the last seven and started the three games this season. It was very hard for everyone to get used to him being gone.”

Jeff Monken learned of his player’s death later Sunday morning. He got the team together and told them they would not practice that day, but Mike related that Jackson’s teammates said, “No, Brandon would want us to practice.” So, they practiced.

On the day of the funeral, the team members and 10 busloads of cadets made the trek to Queens, New York, for the funeral.

Jeff Monken is the oldest of Mike’s and Nancy’s children, followed by Susan and Tom. Jeff spent two years at Joliet East, and when it closed, he finished with two years playing wide receiver for his dad at Joliet Central.

“Jeff always said he liked football, but he and Tom had the same problem. I had to stretch him to get him to 5-foot,” Mike laughed. “I told him he should go into business. And he said, ‘No, dad, I want to coach.’”

He went into education (graduating from Millikin with an English degree and a minor in physical education) and then became another lifelong Monken coach.

Call it the first family of football coaches.

Mike and his four brothers all were football coaches. Brother Bob’s oldest son Todd, Jeff’s cousin, is the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He previously coached at Southern Mississippi, where he received a coach of the year accolade, and also spent time with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Oklahoma State and LSU.

Several of Jeff’s other cousins are football coaches as well, predominantly in high schools around Illinois.

Mike coached at five high schools in the state. He was at East from 1972 until 1983, then at Central for eight years. After he retired from coaching, then-Joliet West coach Dale O’Connell asked him if he would be interested in coming on board to work with the Tigers’ offense, while O’Connell coached the defense.

“So I did that for a year,” Mike said.

Mike’s brother, Glen, “is 81 or 82, and he is still coaching,” Mike said. “He’s a volunteer coach at Mater Dei. He doesn’t get to practice every day, but he makes it most days. He just likes to be around it.”

As much as all the Monkens have accomplished in coaching, however, it will be difficult to top what Jeff’s Army team did last Saturday. That one afternoon forever will hold a place of honor in the Monken Hall of Fame.

• Dick Goss can be reached at dgoss@shawmedia.com.