Ade Dillon
September 03, 2002 12:31 PM | General
Mickey Furfari At-Large
Mountaineer
Illustrated
Ade
Dillon directed the U.S. Naval Academy plebes to a 10-0 record as a freshman
in 1969. Then he started a few games as quarterback of the varsity team in
1970 before deciding to transfer.
"A number of things entered into my decision," the Wisconsin native explained recently. "I was interested in going into medicine and wasn't headed in that direction."
So Dillon transferred to West Virginia University. It had been among the first colleges that tried to recruit him while he was attending a prep school in the Washington area.
After sitting out 1971 to fulfill the one-year transfer requirement, he played behind senior Bernie Galiffa in 1972. He took over the starting job in 1973.
WVU swept its first three games that season, beating Maryland, Virginia Tech and Illinois before losing to Indiana and Pitt.
"Pitt was kind of my career-ending game," Dillon recalled. "I separated my shoulder, and I didn't play at all after that."
But he remained in Morgantown to get his bachelor's degree in biology, then earned his medical degree here in 1978. He was an excellent student, making almost all As.
Dr. Dillon now is a partner in one of the country's largest private group practices at the Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic. It's a town of about 20,000. Some 650 doctors are in the system, nearly half of them working in Marshfield.
"I enjoyed playing for Bobby Bowden at WVU," Dillon said. "His priorities were very similar to my father's. He always talked about God being No. 1, family No. 2, country third, your academics fourth and your football fifth. Those were his priorities, and I thought that was great."
Dillon's dad, Adolph, who was also known as Ade, coached him at Appleton High. Ade excelled in football, basketball and track.
Dillon played in all 12 games as WVU posted an 8-4 record in 1972. In his five games in '73, he completed 46 of 97 passes (47.4 percent) for 762 yards and four touchdowns. He was intercepted just seven times.
He also netted 80 yards rushing on keeper plays that year and held the ball for placements both seasons.
In the win over Maryland, Dillon hit Dwayne Woods with a 75-yard touchdown toss. Two scoring shots to All-America wide receiver Danny Buggs covered 59 and 55 yards in the victories over Virginia Tech and Illinois.
He still cherishes the upset of Illinois at Champaign, Ill. Two of his uncles were former standouts for the Illini. Both were at the game, as were his parents, other relatives and numerous friends.
"That was a big thrill for me," Dillon admitted. "It was the closest I played to my hometown, and it felt good to perform well as the underdog and win."
He admittedly enjoyed his years at WVU. And he liked Bowden's wide-open style of offense. "We had some good players, too," he noted.
Dillon got to know Buggs really well because both were sitting out the same year. "We basically had our own program, working on passes," he said. "I really enjoyed Danny."
The doctor did a two-year residency in his specialty (physical medicine and rehabilitation) at the University of Minnesota before returning to the Marshfield Clinic. His patients include athletes and people of all ages with muscular ailments.
Ade and his wife, the former Marilyn Schalk, have two children. Daughter Melanie, 18, is a sophomore in college and son Ade Jr., 9, is a good athlete. Father has been coaching him.
Dillon plans to be in Madison next Saturday to see his alma mater play the Wisconsin Badgers. You can bet he'll be pulling hard for the Mountaineers.
