Western Illinois University will always have a special place in Deion Melvin's heart. It's where he decided to finish his undergraduate studies, play collegiate football, and spend a chunk of his career.
 
To put it simply, WIU is home for Melvin; and that's been the case from his first trip to campus in 1985 to his current post as WIU's defensive run game and inside linebackers coach.
 
"One of my best friends, a high school teammate, was here, and that kind of helped [my transfer] process," said Melvin. "When I got here it was crazy because it was a snow storm and I got snowed in. I couldn't even catch the train it snowed so bad, so I ended up staying an extra day, met more players and really fell in love with the team here. They treated me like I was already a teammate."
 
After All-American and all-league honors at the College of DuPage, Melvin transferred to Western for his junior and season seasons. For two seasons, he donned No. 92 in purple and gold, helping the Leathernecks to 11 wins, including road successes at top-tier programs like Southern Illinois (ranked 16th in the nation at the time) and Northern Illinois.
 
Melvin can recall a 10-0 shutout over the Huskies like it was yesterday.
 
"We got a chance to play Northern Illinois, and we beat them. It was a chance to go back home and prove to people that we could play at any level that we wanted to play to. I remember our head coach Bruce Craddock swinging off some pipes in the locker room. We thought the pipes were going to break," he laughed.
 
Melvin earned his bachelor's degree from WIU in community health and returned to his alma mater in 1993 as a graduate assistant before being promoted to the linebackers coach. His first coaching stint with the Leathernecks captured some of the best football years in program history – back-to-back Gateway Collegiate Athletic championships, three straight NCAA Division I-AA playoff appearances and the team's first trip to the semifinals (1998).
 
"I don't know if there was any one moment during that time that stands out. Probably one of the most memorable, or the thing that I always remember are the players as a whole, each and every one of them that came that time and those guys getting their degrees. That's always been important to me, and it was important to the coaching staff as well. We had a ton of transfers, and for the most part, they all graduated. We had a lot of great players between that time and to see them all graduate, that made us more successful than being on the field and winning games."
 
With 30-plus years of coaching experience under his belt, Melvin's career included stops at Missouri State, Georgia Southern, Bowling Green, Ball State, and Lindenwood, before coming back home to Macomb in 2017.
 
He is a true testament of the athletic department's creed "Tradition of Tough." Leatherneck Football is known for its blue-collar, hard-working foundation and as someone rooted in that identity as a former student-athlete and current coach, Melvin keeps that attitude alive with the team today. 
 
"When I came here, Coach Craddock instilled in us a real brotherhood, being an ex-marine that's kind of the way he coached. He made us drink the water and believe it, and with all the friendships I made here, I still keep in contact with all of those guys. That's how we coach the team here, and that's how I was coached. There wasn't a whole lot from when I was here but guess what, we were still winning games. Glamour and glitz is all great to have, but if you don't have it, you still find ways to get things done."
 
This weekend will see hundreds return to campus for Homecoming Weekend. There will be celebrations like the 20-year reunion of Western's 1998 football team as well as several other events, and while others will be making their way back to Western Illinois University, Melvin is already home.