Detroit native Devin Church ran for more than 1,800 yards in two seasons at Eastern Illinois. He is the last EIU player rush surpass 1,000 yards rushing in a season with his 1,066 in 2016.. (Photo by EIUPanthers.com)
Editor’s note: This story is part of an occasional series celebrating the 10th season of Prairie State Pigskin, which covers the four Illinois FCS programs.
By Barry Bottino
Ten years ago this fall, Devin Church rushed for an Ohio Valley Conference-leading 1,066 yards, led the team in receptions and earned first-team all-conference.
His 2016 season made his only the 12th player in Eastern Illinois history to rush for 1,000 yards, and no one has done it since for the Panthers.
But a mere 18 months before his remarkable 2016 campaign, Church was searching for something more than riding the bench the previous three seasons at FBS Illinois.
He had scored three touchdowns in a high school state title game in Michigan and was the No. 22 prospect in the state.
At Illinois, which is 53 miles north of Charleston, he wasn’t that guy.
“I wasn’t playing like I felt like I could play,” Church told Prairie State Pigskin. “In high school, I was highly recruited, and I lost that at U of I. It was all driven by my lack of confidence (at Illinois). At the time, I needed to move forward.”
Ten years ago, however, there was no transfer portal to register your name and wait for the messages to pour in.
“At the time I was transferring, it was 110% looked down upon,” he said. “It wasn’t as common as it is today. I had a ton of hesitation. I had a ton of uncertainty because of the stigma associated with transferring.
“At the time, you were a problem and now you’re having to leave,” he said.
First steps at EIU
When he arrived at Eastern before the 2015 season, Church found plenty of things to like.
“Coming over to EIU was a total transformation. I really found myself again,” he said. “I had a staff and teammates that believed in my talent. That alone can take your confidence through the roof.”
He led the Panthers in rushing (736 yards) and receptions (36) while scoring 11 touchdowns in his first season in Charleston.
“The 2015 season was just me scratching the surface,” he said.
After an 0-3 start, the Panthers finished the regular season by winning seven of its final eight games. In a first-round playoff loss to Northern Iowa, Church caught 10 passes and showed off his versatility. Those skills were much like his father, Donald, a fellow college running back who is one of three players Devin Church tried to imitate.
“I always go to my father,” Church said. “He was a D-II running back at Ashland University in Ohio. He was more of a speedster combo with power. I always jokingly say that I got my speed from my father. He was someone I wanted to mimic my game after.”
Church also watched former NFL talents Theo Riddick (Detroit, Denver and Las Vegas) and Tavon Austin (St. Louis Rams and five other teams).
“(My game) was a combination of all these guys,” said Church whose No. 9 jersey choice at EIU was inspired by Austin high school jersey number.
At his best
If 2015 was scratching the surface, then the 2016 season was Church’s masterpiece.
“By 2016, I had it all together,” he said. “I was cutting on a dime. I was shifty again. I was as big as I’d ever been. At one point, I was 198 pounds. I was big, strong and fast.
“I felt I was at my peak,” he said.
On a September Saturday in Oxford, Ohio, Church was limited to 38 yards rushing by an FBS defense focused on stopping him.
But with 56 seconds left and the Panthers down three points, Church changed the game with a 7-yard touchdown catch.
On the previous play, Church though he let the upset slip away.
’The play right before that touchdown pass, I actually dropped a ball. They put me on a swing route right before that. They threw it to me, and I dropped it,” Church recalled. “We came to sideline. (The coaches) said, ‘Throw it to him again.’ Slightly different play. Let’s get him the ball. That spoke volumes.
We lined up, screen play. They tossed it off to me to the left. My lineman Louis Vailopa had a great block for me. Boom, touchdown.”
The victory was the start of a 5-1 stretch for the Panthers.
“Going down to Ohio, beating a (Mid-American Conference) team, an FBS school. That was huge,” he said.
A new passion
Even during his EIU career, Church was setting a foundation for his next steps.
A corporate communications major, he was fascinated by getting involved in real estate.
“I remember vividly at EIU, I would have conversations with my landlord, who owned the apartment building that we were living in,” he said. “He would sit down on my couch and I would just nail him with questions. We’d go out to breakfast. We’d go out to lunch. He was allowing me to learn the game.
“He didn’t know it at the time, but he was putting me in the mind space of, ‘I have to own real estate if football isn’t an option.”
Church’s chance at the NFL didn’t work out and his time with the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats ended with him being send home after a knee injury.
“When I got back home (to Detroit), I just embedded myself in learning about real estate – networking, talking to people. I had a mentor at the time who would take me with him to look at properties he was investing in,” he said.
Church bought “a cheap condo” and lived in it for two years. That became his first rental property.
“I ended up doing the same strategy the next two times. Live in a property for a year and then rent it out,” he said. “Everything snowballed from there.”
Today, he has three real estate companies.
Church Estates buys rental properties around Detroit, while Foundation Brothers focuses on “fixing and flipping houses about 30 a year,” he said.
Church also has a handyman business based in Detroit called Versatile Handyman Pros.
“That competitiveness I had in football, it’s the same type of lane in real estate,” he said. “But it’s more mental. You go far by being strategic. It’s not the fastest or strongest. In real estate, it’s the guy who’s working smart.”
Today’s game
Church said he keeps in touch, as much as his life with a wife and two children allows, with several former EIU players, including quarterback Jalen Whitlow and Church’s old roommate, Brandon Neverdon.
“It’s always love with former teammates. Those are my guys,” he said.
As for today’s players, Church has mixed emotions.
“I love the NIL part of it and players being compensated,” he aid. “The only part that I think will maybe create issues with these young men as they graduate and go on to the real world is how easy it is to leave adversity,” he said. “It’s so easy to leave. It’s very easy now to throw your name in the portal and be at another home.
“Because there’s no sense of loyalty to stay at a spot, that mindset of ‘if I don’t like it, I’ll go be happy elsewhere,’ that could carry on after college when they get into the workplace,” he said. “I think that could be problematic.”
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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