Tellico Plains High School football coach John Mullinax, who formerly led the programs at McMinn County and at Armuchee in Rome, Ga., was diagnosed with lung cancer after being treated for pneumonia in September.John Mullinax couldn’t hold back the tears on Wednesday.
He lauded the support he has received from the high school football community during the past month, reflecting on a 44-year coaching career and promising to fight for a 45th season.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen six months from now,” the Tellico Plains coach said, “but hopefully I’ll be getting ready for another spring practice.”
Mullinax, 70, has been diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer and plans to begin treatment next week. He was diagnosed in early October after being hospitalized days before with pneumonia. A biopsy revealed cancer in his left lung and chest, and doctors told him Wednesday they’re optimistic they can contain it.
“We just have to play it treatment by treatment,” Mullinax said. “There’s fluid in my left lung that they’re going to test it to see if there’s more cancer in it. If there is, that’s not good. I smoked for over 50 years, but I quit cold turkey on Sept. 30. I went into the hospital on Sept. 28. The pneumonia was a blessing. The cancer might have killed me if I didn’t have it.”
Mullinax, a Vietnam veteran, coached at McMinn County for 19 years and then at Armuchee in Rome, Ga., from 2004 to 2011 before being hired at Tellico Plains in 2012. He missed Tellico’s game against Wartburg this season while in the hospital, and he watched the Bears’ game against Sweetwater from his vehicle the following week.
He has coached from the sidelines the past two weeks and plans to coach at Rockwood tonight and against West Greene in a Careacter Star Community Service game on Nov. 7.
Last week, Grace Christian agreed to wear its home blue jerseys during its game at Tellico, allowing the Bears to wear white, the color associated with lung cancer awareness. A group prayer was held for Mullinax after the game, and Rockwood also is hosting a whiteout in his honor tonight.
“Hopefully I’ll continue to coach and stay as active as I can,” Mullinax said. “(Football) has been my life for my youngest son (Josh), who coaches with me, and my wife (Joy). I’m going to find out down the road in a few months how well things are going.”