First, tell me what you’ve been doing with yourself since your time in the NFL?

I’m the head football coach now for a Georgia high school – it’s my second year as head coach there. I was the defensive backs coach there before that and was a coach also at Limestone college for a year before that. I coached for a guy I played with in Detroit.

Any coaches or coaching influences help shape your coaching style today?

There were a few coaches. James Stallings at Alabama was a strict disciplinarian – a tough coach. And Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville was in the same vein. Run the ball and stop the run. Hard-nosed…

And in Pittsburgh, Dick LeBeau was the same way. He wanted you to play hard-nosed and to be aggressive. Those three coaches helped pattern by coaching behaviors.

How hard was the post-NFL adjustment for you?

In the beginning, all I wanted to do was take a break and relax. So that way I think the transition was easy. Playing cornerback, I wasn’t one of those big guys everyone knew. I wasn’t a star so if I wasn’t in Florida or Alabama I wasn’t recognized. I was a homebody too – I came from a small town in Georgia and I liked saying at home.

But I always wanted to be a coach. Even in high school, if I never played ball again In knew I wanted to be a coach. I coached my son’s youth league for a couple of years. I looked at coaching at the college level but it was the same as the NFL. You’re always away from your family and I didn’t want that. High school is a good niche for me.

How did you end up in Pittsburgh in free agency. Why Pittsburgh?

It was crazy – a lot had to do with the Alabama connection. Deshea Townsend – an Alabama guy – got hurt. I played with him at Alabama. He, coach Amos Jones, and Bruce Arians all had Alabama connections. So, after all was said and done, they brought me in because they felt I was a god fit. I knew the system after playing for Dom Capers. They knew s a veteran player I could help. Once Deshea got better they kept me around as a safety valve. Bryant McFadden got hurt too – I think he broke his arm. So they felt I was a bit more steady as a vet that knew the system.

Anyone show you the ropes once you got there?

I played with Carnell Lake in Jacksonville. Mike Logan and Ainsley Battles too. So there were a lot of people from Pittsburgh I knew that told me how things were done in Pittsburgh. How the program worked.

So, you played for two teams – Jacksonville and briefly in New England – that can now be considered Pittsburgh’s biggest rivals. You have divided loyalties watching these teams play now?

It’s funny. When I first got to the league, Pittsburgh played Jacksonville a lot. But my first loyalty is to Jacksonville – they drafted me and gave me my shot. But my love is Pittsburgh. My experience playing for Tomlin was special. He was younger – my age – and I won a Super Bowl there. His advice to “Do things the right way” always stayed with me. And how they handled players – it was special.

A lot of teams would have let a vet go once guys came back from injury. But they knew I was on my way out and kept me on the team. I’ll always be grateful for that.

What made Pittsburgh different from the other teams you played for?

The visibility of the ownership The Rooneys were unbelievable. The NFL is full of great families, but they were amazing. They always had an open door to players.

And Tomlin…even now as a coach I always refer back to the do it right rule. The Pittsburgh rule. You know what’s right, so don’t embarrass the program and the city.

I remember when I got there we lost just one game – to Tennessee. It reminded me of playing at Alabama. The whole city was sad – like it was in mourning. Just because the Steelers lost. The connection the team has with the city is special.

Any funny memories of your time in Pittsburgh?

I remember James Harrison – the workouts and the energy he brought every day. It was always something with him!

Being a vet, I also remember I didn’t have to practice a lot – as much as other guys. I would take a knee on the sidelines after reps.  Well, once I got up after my knee to take some reps. I was fast – I can remember getting run by by a receiver – really run by – twice. Once my Randy Moss in a game and once by Mike Wallace in practice. I remember taking two steps and seeing Wallace twenty yards ahead of me!

I made eye contact with Coach Tomlin and thinking, “Yeah. It’s about that time…” It was funny … it was those moments that you remember.

Any thoughts as a former player and now coach on what young guys need to do today as they prepare for the NFL?

At the end of the day, they need to take it as a business. You want to have fun sure, but you have to remember you’re a specialist. As a starting cornerback, there are only thirty-two teams, so only sixty-four starting cornerbacks. So you have to enjoy what you do but understand it all passes.

And all of the connections you make in the NFL. You need to leverage those for your post-NFL career. Brighten someone’s day with your experiences in the NFL if you can – and do things the right way.

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