Triand McCoy looks back at his years of playing football at Vidalia High School and smiles.

&uot;I used to complain back then, but there’s no comparison to now,&uot; McCoy said. &uot;This is real life now. I’m working, paying bills and notes.&uot;

McCoy was a senior at Vidalia in fall 1986. At 6-foot-1, 275 pounds he was recruited by several colleges, opting to sign with Northwestern State University.

&uot;I played with and against some good players,&uot; McCoy said. &uot;Lewis Tillman, who was a running back at Jackson State, was probably toughest running back I went against. I played with John Stephens, who was one of the best I&160;played with.&uot;

McCoy played on the offensive and defensive lines at Vidalia.

&uot;That was a way of life at Vidalia,&uot; McCoy said. &uot;We played the whole game.&uot;

And that meant a lot of conditioning.

&uot;Getting in shape was the biggest thing,&uot; he said. &uot;We did 30 30s (yard sprints) and a 100 (yard dash) every day. We used to call them the ‘dirty 30s.’&uot;

McCoy, a two-time All-Metro selection, said he regrets not being in better shape.

&uot;Coach (Tommy) Lanius was always getting on us about being in shape,&uot; McCoy said. &uot;I know now if I would have been in better shape I could have been that much better a player.&uot;

Not that he didn’t hold his own.

&uot;When you are big like that you run into a lot of double teams,&uot; he said. &uot;And then when I went to Northwestern everybody was the same size. The wide receivers were 6-2 and 6-3 and weighed 185.&uot;

McCoy went into coaching after high school, working as an assistant football coach at Jonesboro-Hodge and Davidson High. He left coaching because of the pay and has worked with Natchez Coca-Cola the past three years.

McCoy said the highlight of playing at Vidalia was being one of the few teams to beat Ferriday in 1987 and playing South Natchez.

&uot;I blocked for the best backs when I was at Vidalia,&uot; McCoy said. &uot;Eddie Ray Jackson and Joe Ray Hooker were great running backs. And I played alongside Gary Paul Parnham on the line.&uot;

McCoy hired an agent at the end of his college career for a shot at a possible pro career.

&uot;But being 6-1 and a defensive lineman was not in my favor,&uot; he said. &uot;You had to be about 6-5. I had a chance to play Canadian ball, and sometimes I wish I would have taken that shot. But that was then.&uot;

While the football highlights are plenty, the highlight of McCoy’s life is obvious, as McCoy talks about his 7-year-old son Triand II.

&uot;He’s my everything,&uot; McCoy said. &uot;You can take all the newspaper clippings and television interviews away, he is my highlight.&uot;

McCoy, who majored in physiology and minored in psychology, said he will tell his son like he’s told other high school players not to depend on a scholarship.

&uot;It’s a one-in-a-thousand chance to get to the pros and make that money and even less than than for basketball and baseball,&uot; McCoy said. &uot;Education is very important. It’s important to hit the books.&uot;