Navy coach DeChellis returns following health scare
Navy coach is recovering after suffering a stroke
Ed DeChellis has made the walk from his office in Ricketts Hall to Halsey Field House hundreds of times during his 10- year tenure as Navy men’s basketball coach.
That short jaunt turned into a
lifealtering event on Sept. 28.
DeChelliswaswalking past the ArmelLeftwich Visitor Center when he became light- headed and dizzy then started sweating profusely. The 62- year- old stoppedwalking because his left arm and left legwent numb.
“It was a feeling like I’d never experienced before,” DeChellis recalled. “I knew somethingwaswrong, I justwasn’t sure what.”
Brandon Spayd, strength and conditioning coordinator for Navy basketball, was walking alongside DeChellis and
immediately recognized his boss was in distress.
When Spayd asked DeChellis if he was OK, the veteran coach shook his head.
“I think I’m having a heart attack or something,” DeChellis responded.
Spayd rushed to retrieve his car from a nearby parking lot then drove DeChellis to Anne Arundel Medical Center. Doctors initially suspected the same as DeChellis and conducted a complete cardiac rundown. An electrocardiogram along with a battery of other tests found no evidence of a heart attack.
A subsequent MRI scan discovered a brain vessel on the right side had burst and was bleeding. DeChellis had suffered a stroke due largely to high blood pressure.
“My blood pressure was off the charts and I found out I was a diabetic as well,” said DeChellis, who had not previously been diagnosed with either ailment. “I was very, very fortunate it didn’t continue to bleed and I didn’t need brain surgery.”
DeChellis spent three days in the intensive care unit while doctors used drugs to gradually lower his blood pressure. He was sent home with instructions to take insulin shots four times per day. After two months of that, he transitioned to taking one insulin pill each morning.
Other than some numbness in his lips and left hand, DeChellis currently has no other lingering issues and is feeling fine. His energy level is steadily increasing, and he has resumedwalking every day.
“I say a prayer every day thanking God. I feel very blessed that I’m talking to you right now,” he said. “It’s a reminder that things can change very quickly when it comes to your health.”
Up until the event, DeChelliswould have sworn he was eating healthy. A blueberry muffin with yogurt seemed minimal for breakfast, but now the former is no longer an option. That baked potato he enjoyed with meat? Out of the question. Same with bread and many other DeChellis favorites.
“I’ve changed my diet 180 degrees,” DeChellis said. “Being an Italian guy, I love my pasta. That’s what I miss the most. I can have a cup of wheat pasta once a week. That’s it.”
Although never considered overweight, DeChellis has lost 20 pounds just by eliminating certain foods. That new regimen has already impacted the pregame meal enjoyed by the Navy coaching staff. Chicken parmigiana with pasta, a regular staple during the DeChellis era, is off the menu.
DeChellis feels fortunate to have two veteran assistants in EmmettDavis and Jon Perry. This is the second stint at Navy for Davis, who has sandwiched 18 seasons at the academy around a 13- year tenure as head coach at Colgate. Perry has been with DeChellis for19seasons— four as a player at East Tennessee State and15 as an assistant.
Thosetwotook chargeofNavy basketball for the twoweeks DeChelliswas away. First order of business involved telling the players what happened to the head coach. They gathered the team on the practice court at Halsey Field House and delivered the news matter of factly.
“We gave it to the players straight. They needed to know the head coach, their leader, was in a tough spot,” Davis said. “I remember the players were very concerned. You could tell by the looks on their faces.”
Some players mentioned sending text messages of encouragement to DeChellis but learned the head coach did not have his cell phone at the hospital. Perry suggested sending handwritten notes instead, which each player did.
“I think those notes really impacted coach and helped him get through those first few days,” Perry said. “That first day was very strange, very unsettling. I rememberwe prayed as a team.”
Davis and Perry were impressed by the reaction of the players, who were determined to keep Navy basketball moving forward despite the absence of DeChellis. TeamcaptainCamDavis along with a group of seven seniors and juniors led the team during that period.
“Most of the really good teams I’ve been part of had something that brought them together, some type of circumstance or shared experience,” Perry said. “I feel like this situation has brought this team closer together.
DeChellis conducted online meetings with the coaching staff and watched practice live on his computer during the second week of his recuperation. It was frustrating since the camera captured the whole court and the veteran coach could spot things he didn’t like.
“Ed would ask Brandon to tell us things like ‘ they don’t have high hands’ or ‘ there’s no help- side defense.’ There was an eye in the sky at practice and Ed was coaching remotely,” Davis said with a chuckle.
DeChellis was back at work full- time three weeks after suffering the stroke, getting rides to and from the academy from his wife. He has regular follow- up appointments with a cardiologist and neurologist, who havewarned the college coaching lifer to slowdown at times.
“I love coaching basketball, but I love being a husbandand a father evenmore. I’m going to do whatever the doctors tell me,” DeChellis said. “For 38 years, I’ve never sat down at practice. Now, whenever the players take a break to get a drink ofwater, I sit down and drinkwater aswell.”
One might think Kim DeChellis would urge her husband to give up the highpressure career of coaching and focus fully on his health after this scare. That never happened because the doctorsmadeit clear Ed DeChellis could continue coaching as long as he took better care of himself.
“There is no way I could just sit around the house. That wouldn’t be any good for me or my wife,” DeChellis said. “However, basketball can no longer be life and death for me. I need to step back and let my staff members do more.”
Five years ago, Davis suffered a heart attack during the Annapolis 10- Mile Run. He had trained for a year and was “in the best shape ofmy post- college adult life.”
Having gone through a life- altering event himself, Davis has been able to help DeChellis navigate the recovery process while providing valuable advice.
“You feel like one minute you’re perfectly healthy then the next minute you’re dealing with something that is going to impact your life forever,” Davis said. “You just never knowwhat’s going to happen, which iswhy you have to live each day to its maximum.”