East Central was ‘home’ for Seth Smith. Here’s how PRCC lured him to college football.
When Seth Smith sat down in November to speak with Pearl River Community College officials about the possibility of becoming the school’s football coach, he had to hear all the right things to convince him to leave behind a job he thoroughly enjoyed.
Smith knew if he left East Central High School after seven years, he’d be giving up one of the major perks of being a high school head coach — the chance to coach his four young sons.
“There are many Pee Wee practices I’ve missed,’ he said. “I always told my wife, ‘I won’t miss a practice when they get to high school so I can miss one today.’ I just always envisioned coaching my boys. That’s one great thing about being a high school coach. If you have your own children, you get to coach them.”
In the end, PRCC president Adam Breerwood managed to push the right buttons as he talked Smith into taking over the football program last month.
“The president of the school, you’re talking about the energizer bunny,” Smith said. “He’s a guy who is a visionary. He has a vision for all aspects of the school beyond football. Once we met with him, it was a no-brainer because he was going to give us the opportunity to do the same thing on this level that we did on the high school level.”
Like at East Central in 2012, Smith inherits a program that has fallen on hard times in the super competitive Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges. The Wildcats went 5-13 over the last two seasons under the direction of Ted Egger, who was 10-17 over three years.
While many of Mississippi’s successful junior college football programs feature staffs loaded with experience in the MACJC and at four-year college, Smith has hired a bunch of coaches who have spent the vast majority of their careers on the high school level.
“We’ve got one coach (Ta’ron Sims) with about four months of junior college experience,” Smith said. “That kind of fits us. Our motto at East Central was, ‘Be rare.’ We’re doing it and we’re being rare. We’re doing it in a way that’s different, kind of fits who we are. There’s no perfect science to this.
“I realize (Gulf Coast coach Jack Wright) has won multiple national titles. He’s a phenomenal coach. Steve Buckley is a great coach (at Jones College). There are great junior college programs throughout the state.”
Seth Smith’s strategy for PRCC football
The decision to go almost exclusively with high school coaches was a point of emphasis for Smith early in the interview phase.
“One thing I made really clear when I was talking about the job with the administration is if you give us the keys to the car, you’ve got to allow me to drive it a certain way,” he said. “If not, I’m not leaving a phenomenal place like Hurley to come to something with so much unknown. There are a lot of unknowns. The administration was so great that it was a no-brainer when they let us know they were going to allow us to do it our way. If our way doesn’t work, it’ll be my fault.”
With the realization that he had to move away from the Wing-T from his high school days, Smith hired Greene County head coach Michael King as offensive coordinator.
“The three-play days are over,” Smith said with a laugh. “I almost got emotional having to put the power toss to rest. I felt like we’d have a hard time recruiting a quarterback by telling him if you come here, we’ll let you block. I don’t think that’s what a kid is wanting to do.
“We wanted to hire someone who has a great offensive mind, that’s why for me it was a no-brainer. Michael King was the guy for the job. There’s no doubt he’ll help bring in guys and elevate guys to play at the level we want to be playing. We’ll get up to the 2020 style of offense. We’ll still play hard and we’re still going to be physical. Those two things won’t change.”
Ty Trahan, Smith’s cousin, has been named the PRCC defensive coordinator. He is joined by defensive line coach Lorenzo Breland and Sims as the secondary coach. David Chatham, who worked under Smith at East Central, will be the Wildcats’ offensive line coach.
Dodd Lee, who retired at the end of the 2019 season as the Picayune head coach, is also expected to have a role to play on the staff, but his exact spot is still to be determined. Lee is Smith’s father-in-law.
Learning college football recruiting
The main challenge for Smith and a staff loaded with high school experience is to make a quick adjustment to the recruiting trail. While Smith developed a reputation as a charismatic high school coach during stints at Picayune, Pearl River Central and East Central, there’s plenty to learn for he and his staff as they target prospects across the state.
Smith admits that there is a learning curve to overcome.
“We’ll know in about a year,” Smith said. “If they’re booing us out of here you’ll know the learning curve was too big. We don’t think so. If there would have been fear involved I wouldn’t have taken it.”
So far, Smith has been encouraged by the response he’s received during his time on the recruiting trail.
“It’s interaction. It’s you being you,” he said. “If the kid likes who you are and what you’re selling, you’ll have a chance at getting them. If not, they’ll make it clear they have no interest. That’s OK, too. You know you’re not going to get them all. We’re going to try our hardest to love them up and get them here.
Smith’s ability to connect with players is a big reason he’s now the head coach at PRCC. At East Central, he inspired hard work and loyalty from a group of student-athletes who had previously experienced little success in football.
At Pearl River, Smith is relying on that those skills to translate to the junior college level.
“These kids will be treated the same way as any kid I’ve coached has been treated,” he said. “They’ll be loved, be pushed, demanded to dig deeper than they’ve ever done before. If the kids back at East Central wouldn’t have dug deep we wouldn’t have ever won. It’s going to be the same way here.
“The only difference here is the kids at East Central didn’t have a choice but to be there. These kids, you get to go pick them.”
‘Blood, sweat and tears’
Part of Smith’s appeal with his players is his willingness to show emotion. When he met with his East Central team to inform them that he was leaving, he didn’t hold back.
“I cried so much,” he said. “It’s pretty clear I cry a lot. That doesn’t embarrass me. I don’t think that makes me weaker than the next man. That’s who I am. I’ll live being who I am and I’ll die being me.
“We talked a lot about being six points short of winning a state championship (in 2017). Those guys were excited about trying to be the first class to win state. Throughout the evolution of that program, every year it was ... we ran out of firsts. After back to back undefeated seasons and two South State trips, there were no more firsts. The only first left was to win a state championship. I know those kids are excited, hungry about doing that.”
Smith told his wife, Devin, last year that he planned to stick around East Central long enough to coach his youngest son in high school. Even though he has returned home to his native Pearl River County, he won’t lose his ties to the Hurley community.
“Moving to Hurley and being there seven years, that became home,” he said. “That’s all my kids know. Those were important growing years for them as young boys. Hurley will always be home for them.
“When you’re attached to a profession and you put your heart and soul into it, it’s something so much greater because you watch it grow. You got to be part of watching these kids do something people said couldn’t be done. I’ll be attached to that place for the rest of my life. You can’t put a price tag on the blood, sweat and tears. Nobody other than God will know the time and effort that went into doing that. I don’t look at it as walking away. I have a little house boat on the river I wouldn’t take a million dollars for.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
