Western Illinois Football Player Enhancement Fund

The WIU Football Player Enhancement Fund was created in 2025 to encourage, challenge and inspire our football student athletes to excel in the classroom, in the community and on the field.  100% of the contributions to this fund go to the WIU football program.  

In this new age of Division 1 football, our program needs your help now more than ever!  

The fund goes directly to supporting WIU Football in 3 distinct ways.

1.  Enhancing the overall nutrition and hydration of our football student athletes.  Our program believes in connection.  One of the ways we do this is through our weekly family dinners.  Each week we come together as a team to break bread and share our whys!  Why we came to WIU, what we hope to accomplish and who are the most influential people in our lives.  

2.  Enhancing our training and teaching spaces.  The fund goes towards improving our locker room spaces with modern technology, improving the branding and aesthetics of Hanson Field and improving our offices and meeting spaces for our coaches and student athletes. These improvements show our student athletes that people care deeply about WIU football and are consistently seeking to take us to a championship level.

3.  Enhancing our earned Leatherneck Academic Awards program.  We must be able to recruit and retain the top football student athletes to come to WIU.  Through the NCAA approved Alston awards, we have the ability to reward football student athletes who are excellent students, deeply invested in community service and among the best football players in the OVC.  For more info on Alston Awards can be obtained here starting on Page 54. Student Athlete Handbook

Through the generosity of our donors we are off to a tremendous start towards building the Player Enhancement Fund to sustainable levels.  I look forward to seeing you at Hanson Field!

Joe Davis,
Head Football Coach.