Former B.B. Comer standout Marcus Knight is starting a new chapter in his life. The former NFL player has hung up his playing cleats for a coaching whistle. Knight is going into his first full season as the wide receivers coach at Valparaiso University in Indiana.

“I had a chance to go to graduate school,” Knight said. “I attended graduate school at a small university out here in Northwest Indiana, Valparaiso University. I have been a graduate assistant for the past two years and that kind of got me into coaching. This year, I am going to be going into my first year as a full time assistant, coaching the wide receivers. I always had a passion to coach. I have worked with young kids in the past, even when I was playing professional ball. I had the opportunity to go get my masters and still be able to do what I enjoy doing, so I thought it was the best situation for me.”

Knight was part of arguably the best B.B. Comer team in their 87-year history. The 1995 Tigers went 14-1 and fell to Cordova 6-0 in the 3A state championship game. Knight was one of the five All-State players on that team.

“My playing days were great,” Knight said about his days at B.B. Comer. “I enjoyed my high school career. My senior season we had a chance to play in the state championship game. We didn’t win it, but we made a good run at it. We brought excitement to our high school which was a lot of fun.”

The Tigers had three players to sign scholarships off the 1995 team. Knight was an Alabama fan all of his life, but decided to go to Big Ten powerhouse Michigan after things didn’t work out with the Tide.

“We had a lot of good players on our team,” Knight said. “My best friend at the time Tellie Embry was getting looked at by a lot of schools and ended up going to Auburn. We had a running back Anthony Green that ended up going to a lower level college and doing things at that level. We just had an exciting team and guys that really believed in each other. My opportunity came and it gave me the chance to go to Michigan. I really wanted to go to Alabama all of my life, but things didn’t work out. I ended having the opportunity to go to Michigan. When it came down to decision time it felt like the best thing for me to do.”

After two season of being a role player, Knight had a break out year his junior season with over 40 catches and 603 receiving yards.

“In my junior and senior year I did have the opportunity to start and had the chance to show what I should have been doing the first years that I was there,” Knight said. “God blessed me with the opportunity and just taking advantage of it. I knew my time was going to come, persevering and just being consistent kind of gave me the opportunity to do what I wanted to do.”

Knight’s brother Dameian Jeffries also was huge star at B.B. Comer in the early 1990s. Jeffries went on to play his college football for the Tide. Knight and Jefferies have a bond that most brothers only dream of. Both players played Division I football and won National Championships. Jefferies and the Tide won the National Championship in 1992, while Knight contributed to Michigan’s National Championship team in 1997.

“My older brother Dameian Jeffries decided to go to Alabama,” Knight said. “He played his four years at Alabama. He was a defensive lineman for the Tide and they won the championship in 1992 and we ended up winning a National Championship in 1997 at the University of Michigan. It was good times man, both of us were blessed to have the opportunity to play with some great players and to contribute to a championship. Both of us talk about it still today.”

The brothers also went on to play professional football. The Sylacauga native was the kick returner with the Oakland Raiders when they went to Super Bowl in 2002.

“The NFL is a fantasy,” Knight said. “When I did have the opportunity to go out there and compete it all started over for me again. As I told you earlier its just about proving that I should be there and trying to find the right people to hang around with. The people that knew the ropes, the people that knew what they were doing. I have a pretty good relationship with Tim Brown and I had the chance to speak with him not only as a football player, but as a man. I took things that I could away from him and just gave everything that I had. Whenever I had the opportunity I tried to take advantage of it. For two years I did the practice squad thing, which was fine in my book I was still there. In 2002 I had the opportunity to make the roster. That was the year that we went to the Super Bowl. We didn’t win the Super Bowl, but I was the starting kick returner in that game. There are a lot of professionals that played this game that can never say that they went to a Super Bowl. Unfortunately we didn’t win it, it was an experience that I will never forget.”

Being a coach on the colleague level is a year around job, so Knight doesn’t get a chance to come back to Sylacauga often.

“I sneak in and out every now and then,” Knight said. “My mom and my family are there, so I always come back at least once a year.”

Knight is excited about the blessings in life and what the future holds for him. He believes that he will end up back in his hometown one day helping the youth.

“I feel really blessed about the opportunities that I have and where I am right now,” Knight said. “You never know what your future may hold. I don’t have an idea about what might be going on. Maybe I will end up back in Sylacauga doing something with young kids. Coaching football that’s not something that I hang my hat on. I am just preparing myself for the future. I just wish everybody the best in Sylacauga. I wish everything goes well and the city continues to move forward. When I do go back home sometimes it doesn’t feel the same because of times change and things don’t necessarily go in the direction that you thought it would. I am hoping that in time that things will to go back to they way it used to be. My future will end up there at some point.”

Contact LaVonte Young at lyoung@dailyhome.com