Jeremy Patterson was hired this spring at MDCC as an assistant football coach to help inspire a very needful special teams’ squad.
The highly-decorated assistant coach will be bringing some newfound knowledge to the gridiron.
Recently selected to take part in the inaugural Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Coaching Academy, Patterson was in Florida for more than a week soaking up knowledge and refining skills. But this wasn’t an open academy for just anyone; Patterson had to apply, go through multiple interviews, and even break down NFL film as part of the selection process. He first heard about the camp from a friend when he was working at Mississippi Valley State University as an assistant coach.
“I'd done a couple internships with the NFL in the past, and I told him, ‘thank you,’” Coach Patterson said. “I did the first round of interviews and I did the second round and then the third round. I had to break down film study. You have to break down NFL clips, and you get 45 seconds to tell what's going right or what's going wrong in a play, and why did it happen.”
Coach Patterson knew he wanted the position but needed confirmation.
“Before I submitted the last interview, I prayed over it and asked God if it was meant for me, and that I definitely wanted to be there,” he said.
Then he left it in God’s hands and went on about his business. Then on February 26, he checked his email and got that confirmation.
“I found out that I got accepted into the academy,” he said. “Sixteen hundred people applied for this worldwide and they only took the top 25 in the world. And that said a lot about it. They picked people from all different backgrounds, all different parts of life.”
The Cleveland native packed his bags and took part in Tampa Bay’s Mini Camp where he got one-on-one coaching from Buccaneers Special Teams Coach Thomas McGaughey.
“They paid for everything. It was a first-class experience. They put us up in a five-star hotel for 10 days. It was just a great experience,” Coach Patterson said. “I got a chance to talk and network and meet and was literally paired up with the special teams’ coordinator. He's actually also the longest-tenured special teams coordinator in the NFL right now. And so definitely, it was an honor to be paired up with him all week and learn on his tutelage.”
Working 12- to 14-hour-plus days, Coach Patterson was constantly moving and soaking up as much knowledge as he could, both on and off the gridiron.
“We also had the chance to do all different types of networking events with different coaches on the staff, including the head coach, Coach Bowles, and the NFL front office. It’s not normal to be around an NFL owner, but Darcy Glazier, one of the owners of the Buccaneers, was there all week, around us, in and out of meetings with us all week, and that was pretty amazing. And it was just truly a humbling experience.”
The rookie Trojan coach was appreciative and amazed at the opportunity.
“I tell people I'm a small-town kid from Cleveland, Mississippi, a population of maybe 10,000 people and to have the opportunity to sit in an NFL head coach office and chat with him still feels surreal. But I also knew that I did earn the right to be there because they weren't just picking me. It was a tough process with all the interviews and all the things you had to do. I definitely felt grateful to be there.”
There wasn’t a normal day during the camp for Coach Patterson.
“Every day presented its own challenges. I would wake up about 4 o'clock in the morning then pray, read my Scripture and exercise. I'm on the bus by 5 a.m. and go to the breakfast at the Buccaneers organization headquarters. Then go to the special teams coordinator office, to see what could I assist him on for the day. We’d have a team meeting. And then you have special team meetings. And from special team meetings, you go back into a positional meeting after that. And after that, you're preparing for practice. We’d have a walkthrough every day around about 10:15 a.m. After the walkthrough you'll go grab a little lunch. Then we went to practice. Then after practice you go back up, watch the film from the practice you just had, see what you did right, see what you did wrong.”
Off the field, Coach Patterson got to network with Tampa Bay-area professionals and supporters of the team.
“Then we also had all these different types of sessions. We met with the CEO of Coca-Cola. We met with all of the big sponsorships and got a chance just to hear them and hear their stories and how they made it. Being in the presence of multiple, not just millionaires, but so many people, billionaires. Got a chance to meet a lot of the NFL high-ups, from executive vice presidents that work for the NFL, to senior vice presidents that work for the NFL.
“Every day was different and you wrap up around 7 p.m. every day. Go back to the hotel, kind of debrief and then get ready for the next day and its challenges.”
Networking among the other participants was a big part of the process as well.
“I didn't know any of them before I got there. And by the time we left I got so close to about 10-15 of them, it was ridiculous. Because I really feel like I've known them all my life. Some of them are just real good guys. Most of them are D1 coaches or head coaches. The head coach at Kentucky State, the defense coordinator at North Carolina. The defensive line coach from Texas A&M. I really built some great connections with those guys as well.”
Looking back on the impactful week, Coach Patterson took away plenty but one thing was in the forefront.
“Confirmation about who I am and the things that I have been teaching them the correct way,” he said. “And I’m just thankful to Coach Johnson for bringing me to Mississippi Delta and even for allowing me to go and pursue this opportunity with the NFL. It could lead to possibly being a member of the Bill Walsh Fellowship that happens later on this summer at the tail end of July.”
The Tampa Bay Academy complements the NFL’s long-established Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, created in 1987, to open pathways for minority coaches into the league.
