Several years ago, my wife and I took a road trip to Boston for a friend's wedding. On the way home we decided to swing by Penn State for the first time to take a look around, and I always try to reach out to the football staff when in a college town to see if it would be possible to get a tour.
Penn State graciously made that happen, and they sent recruiting coordinator Mike Villagrana in a golf cart to come pick us up and show us around the campus and football facilities for the first time.
It didn't take long visiting with Mike to see that he was one of those individuals who was destined to climb the ranks of college football, and he did just that in the years to come.
He would go on to serve as director of recruiting at Mississippi State before betting on himself and taking the GM role at Marshall where he helped put together the highest rated recruiting class in school history.
When Brent Pry took the Virginia Tech job, Villagrana joined the Hokies as senior director of player personnel.
But this fall Mike is stepping away from the sidelines to spend time with his family that consist of Tiffany (wife), Dominic (son) and Camryn (daughter).
Back in May, the Villagrana family got news that every parent dreads.
After battling unexplained fevers and fatigue, Camryn was diagnosed with leukemia back in May. Test revealed a blood cancer (ALL) that requires intensive and prolonged treatment.
For the next two years, Camryn will undergo grueling chemo treatments and hospital stays and are looking for support as they take on this unfortunate battle for their little girl who loves barbies, swimming, playing outside, and just simply hanging out with her brother.
Friends of the family have helped to set up a GoFundMe that has garnered quite a bit of traction already, and since no one should have to go through what this family is going through, we wanted to do our part to spread the word to support Camryn.
Please donate if able. If you're not able to, please join us in praying for Camryn as well as Mike, Tiffany, Dominic, and the doctors and medical staff for the journey that lies ahead.