By Robert Wilson
David Duggan found out the old saying “you don’t know how good you have it, until is gone,” was very true for him when he left after one season of being a high school football coach after more than three decades of being a college coach to dive back into the world of college football.
Duggan accepted a position as defensive coordinator at Jackson Academy under Aubrey Blackwell two years ago and left his job at Troy.
“I enjoyed the experience at JA and enjoyed giving back in some shape or form to the kids, parents and the community,” Duggan said. “We had good players and we challenged them and pressed the envelope. I saw the growth of our defensive players. It was so much fun to be around guys. It was rewarding the relationship I developed with the guys. It impacted me. It was a positive experience.”
An old friend – Kenni Burns – lured Duggan back into the college football world at Kent State and offered him the defensive coordinator position under Burns. But after one season at Kent State, Duggan realized something.
“I had chased the college football world long enough,” Duggan said. “My wife (Lynne) was living in Brandon when she wasn’t up there with me and had been through a snowstorm and tornado. My daughter (Olivia) and her daughter, my granddaughter (Kennedy, now 14 months old), was living here in Brandon (Duggan also has a daughter, Grace, who lives in Houston). And at this time in my life, it was time to be around my family as much as possible. The job at JA opened and I enjoyed it there the first time so much. It worked out great.”
Blackwell, an Alabama native, left to take the head coaching job at Saint James School in Montgomery, Ala. He was at JA for two seasons and had a 17-9 record. Blackwell, who had coached in Alabama all his life before coming to JA, previously had coached at St. James.
Blackwell’s departure opened up a door for Duggan to get back into the high school football coaching world, and come back to JA.
“The college world has changed so much with the transfer portal. It’s an endless job. It beats you up,” Duggan said. “It was looking at film on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this past year. You never get a break.”
Duggan loves Mississippi. The Massachusetts native had been to Mississippi before his first stint at JA. Duggan coached under Larry Fedora at Southern Miss from 2008 to 2011, then followed Fedora to North Carolina, then came back to Southern Miss and coached under Todd Monken from 2013-2016. Duggan was linebackers every year while at Southern Miss and also served as special teams coordinator (2009-11), co-defensive coordinator (2011) and defensive coordinator (2013-2016).
Duggan is a big fan of JA.
“If I had a son or daughter looking for a school, you couldn’t find a better one than JA,” Duggan said. “I love their vision. They do it the right way.”
Duggan grew up around football. His dad, Jim Duggan, coached high school football in Massachusetts for several decades and was inducted into the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association’s Hall of Fame in 2019. Duggan played linebacker and running back at Maynard, Mass., High and played linebacker at the University of New Hampshire (1982-86) with Chip Kelly, the former NFL and college head coach and now offensive coordinator at Ohio State.
Duggan jumped right into college coaching as a graduate assistant at Division III Allegheny College and worked his way up, with stops at New Hampshire, Holy Cross, Colgate, Brown, Arkansas State, Western Michigan, Southern Miss, North Carolina, Troy, Kent State and NFL Europe.
Almost four decades later, the 60-year-old Duggan is doing what his dad did, coaching high school football.
“There wasn’t a better way to grow up, sitting around listening my dad and all his coaching friends talk football,” Duggan said. “I loved it and learned so much. Now, I want to influence young people like my dad did. I want to give back.”
Duggan’s goal is to bring back a state championship to JA, something the Raiders haven’t won since the three-peat from 2009 to 2011 under David Sykes.
JA’s biggest losses to graduation were senior defensive lineman Nicholas Harris (who made the PriorityOne Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard All Metro Jackson second team), senior wide receiver and Arkansas State signee Kiandre Terry, who had 43 receptions for 583 yards and 4 touchdowns last season, and senior strong safety Fagan Daniel, who had a team-high 102 tackles.
Also, rising senior defensive back DJ Watkins – who made second-team All-Metro last season, has multiple Division I offer, and had seven interceptions over the past two seasons – transferred to Madison Central at Christmas and rising senior linebacker AJ Parker – who had 60 tackles last season and 113 tackles as a sophomore – transferred to Madison-Ridgeland Academy at Christmas.
The top returning starter is 6-foot-3, 275-pound rising junior defensive lineman Dereon Albert – who has nine Division I offers, including SEC offers from Auburn, Tennessee and Missouri. Albert had 69 tackles, 20 for loss, 7.5 sacks, 1 fumble recovery and 1 blocked kick last season as a sophomore.
Other key returning starters are rising senior running back Omarean Ellis (1,034 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns), rising junior quarterback Carter Mathison (1,911 passing yards, 16 TDs), rising senior wide receiver-kickoff returner John Thomas (24 catches for 337 yards and 2 TDs and a 26.6-yard average and 1 TD on kickoff returns), rising junior linebacker TJ White (63 tackles), rising senior linebacker-kicker Jacob Scarborough (59 tackles, 3 field goals, 42 extra points), rising senior offensive lineman Shamrye Lee, and rising senior defensive back Foster Meachum.
“We have some quality, but need some quantity,” Duggan said.
Duggan’s first message to his players wasn’t about football.
“I told my guys my vision was to first grow academically, grow athletically, and grow spiritually, and none have to do with football,” said Duggan, who started April 2. “If you do those things, it will result in success in football.”
“My initial impression of Coach Duggan (two years ago) was this man knows far more football than anyone I’ve ever met,” Scarborough said. “Now, getting to be coached by him again, I know he can teach me a lot of football, and a lot about life as a young man. Coach is always talking about who wants to win more, because in football that’s what it comes down to. What I expect from Coach Duggan is another season full of learning, hard work, and a state championship.”
Duggan doesn’t have a complete staff yet but receivers coach Shay Hodge will be returning. Hodge was an All-SEC receiver, setting school records for most receiving yards for a season and a career at Ole Miss. He also is very popular as a personal trainer in the Metro Jackson area and a co-owner of MESH Academy. This will be his third season at JA.
Other assistants are offensive coordinator Chase Alkire, a former offensive quarterback analyst at Louisiana Lafayette, and offensive line Case Cook, who was an assistant at JA last year and is a former strength and conditioning assistant at Missouri and Wyoming.
The Raiders open the season Aug. 16 at MAIS Class 5A Bayou Academy in Cleveland. JA defeated Bayou 27-8 in last year’s season opener.
