Darren Myles almost quit coaching football 23 years ago. He had worked six seasons at Douglass and Southside in Atlanta and three years at Francis T. Nicholls, his New Orleans alma mater.
Myles missed out on getting his first head coaching job at Southside in 2002 and wanted a break, maybe a permanent one.
Then he got a call from back home. One of his former New Orleans players, an innocent gunshot victim, awoke from a two-month coma. The first person the player asked about was Myles.
“That alone let me know the impact a coach can have on a player,” Myles said. “That changed my life immensely. It’s stories like that over the years that kept me going.”
This week, the Falcons named Myles their Coach of the Year, honoring a man who has spent 31 season on high school football sidelines, all at inner-city schools, the past 20 at Atlanta’s Carver High, four miles south of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The annual award comes with two tickets to the Super Bowl, to be played Feb. 9 at the Superdome in Myles’ hometown.
The award recognizes Georgia high school football coaches for their integrity and leadership and their dedication to their community and school. Secondarily, the award considers on-field success. Myles’ record at Carver is 138-91. In the 20 years prior, Carver was 32-162.
“It’s an honor because I know how much work goes into putting a team on the field and molding young men,” Myles said. “It’s not just the sport of football, but it’s reminding the players how to conduct themselves, assisting with the discipline, all the extra stuff that we do that people don’t see. I’m grateful that someone has recognized the work that we’ve been putting in over here, on and off the field.”
The award has nudged Myles to reflect on his career and the people he’s touched and those who have touched him.
About growing up in New Orleans, Myles said, “I didn’t see a lot of positive things. Some made it out. Some didn’t.”
Football took Myles to Purdue, where he played running back. He went back to his hometown to coach in 1992.
A childhood friend persuaded him to come to Georgia in 1995 to work on the staff at Douglass. Led by future NFL great Jamal Lewis, Douglass won its first region title in 17 years with Myles as running backs coach.
Myles recalled selling Lewis’ father on the idea of making his son the team’s feature back. The father thought he was fumble risk in the backfield. Lewis rushed for more than 10,000 yards in the NFL.
Myles got his first head coaching job at another Atlanta school, Crim, in 2003. His most memorable player there was Inky Johnson, who would star at Tennessee but suffer an injury during a game that paralyzed his right arm.
The night of Crim’s 2004 football banquet, Myles asked Johnson to read a poem in front of everyone. “He freaked out, and I had to calm him down,” Myles recalled. “I said first of all, you don’t have a choice. You’re a leader of this team, and you can do it.”
Today, Johnson is a renowned motivational speaker.
When Myles came to Carver in 2005, the school struggled athletically and academically. Twenty years later in the football locker room, there are pictures of all 149 Carver players who have gone on to play college football under Myles.
“We watch the players staring at that wall a lot,” Myles said. “We want them to visualize themselves up there one day. When those others come back home, they go to that wall to see their pictures.”
Some have made NFL training camps. Smoke Monday played two years in the league. Two more, Jo’quavious “Woody” Marks and Tobias Fletcher, are projected NFL draft picks this year.
Myles also spoke proudly of Delando Crooks and Amir Mills, former players who have earned doctoral degrees, and Quinton Dukes-Johnson, who is in medical school. One his 2023 players, Taurin Kemp, was the first high school graduate ever in his family.
Carver, like many Atlanta Public Schools high schools, has more than 95% of students on free or reduced-price meals. Many students come from broken homes.
Myles talked about programs that he and his staff had implemented. The team has after-school study halls and devotionals. Myles regularly brings in counselors and motivational speakers. In 2021, he invited in a yoga instructor on Mondays, and now the players do yoga year-round.
“It helps with flexibility of course, but it helps them with anger and anxiety,” Myles said. “It’s part of our pregame routine now. It relieves tension.”
Myles has a daily dress code during the season. On Wednesdays, the players wear ties, many that are donated.
“Teaching a young man how to tie a tie, seeing their smiles when the get compliments, all those things are flying through my head,” Myles said. “We have kids whose fathers are not in their lives, raised by single mothers, where the only structure and discipline they get is when they come here consistently. Those are the championships we’re winning over here.”
The Falcons’ honor caught Myles by surprise, even to the last minute. He’s told the story many times to well-wishers this week.
“I knew I had been nominated, but I had not heard anything about what would take place, so I got a text on Wednesday asking would I be able to come to the game on Sunday,” he said. “I was like, sure. About an hour later they say can you be there at 11:30. We’ve got sideline passes. I said absolutely. I’ll definitely be there. Then they told me I’d be able to get lower-level tickets for family, friends and coaches. So I invited some folks.”
The Falcons’ Amanda Dinkel, senior director of community relations, met Myles on the sideline before the game and asked if he would allow D.J. Shockley to interview him and broadcast it to the fans live. Shockley asked him about some of his Carver accomplishments. Then he asked if Myles liked gumbo and beignets, which of course he does, having grown up 2.8 miles from the French Quarter.
“We’ve got another surprise for you,” Shockley said. “Every NFL team selects a coach to represent them, and the Atlanta Falcons have selected you.”
The Falcons’ feathered mascot, Freddie Falcon, approached from behind with oversized cardboard Super Bowl tickets.
“I was ecstatic now,” Myles said. “My wife was screaming. One of best days of my life.”
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