Daphne head coach in good spirits ahead of surgery

DAPHNE, Ala. (WALA) - Coming on the heels of the return of Coach Jacy Todd to Daphne high school, another Daphne football coach made his own health related announcement.

Thursday, Daphne Head Football Coach Glenn Vickery said he will have major surgery on Monday, Oct. 29, in Birmingham and will be out for some time.

Coach Vickery had plenty on his mind.

Foremost, he said he wanted to "get through the game, not affect the team in any way."

"Let's win the game, enjoy Coach Todd and then, hey guys, I'm gone Sunday, but you're in good hands," Vickery said.

Vickery said an interim head coach will be named on Saturday.

Little did anyone know, Coach Vick had a lot on his shoulders. In a matter of days, he will leave for major surgery.

"They are doing a procedure that removes part of your pancreas, stomach, intestines, gall bladder. It's named the Whipple surgery, after a physician," said Vickery.

Vickery said it all started with fatigue.

"The steps got harder to get up. Making it through a full day was getting hard for me to do," Vickery said.

After a couple of CT scans and a minor surgery, going to UAB Medical Center was strongly suggested.

"I was hoping to do it after the state championship game to be honest, but the doctors locally and there say there were some things that they see now that they couldn't see before, some biopsies, that we need to go ahead," Vickery said.

Vickery said he'll be in Birmingham for around eight days before he can come home. Doctors have told him it may be up to six months before he's feeling good again.

Through it all, however, the coach joked.

"One of the biggest things they said you'll lose 20 percent of your body weight. So I got to thinking I weighed 180 pounds when I was a junior in 1968," Vickery said.

Daphne plays for the Region 2 Championship Friday night and, for this selfless coach, you know what it is what he'll be focused on: a win.