KIRKWOOD, Mo. — He played in college at Mizzou and even starred in the NFL. Up next was a peaceful retirement for Jeremy Maclin, until something else came calling.
“I was in Baltimore and something was missing,” Maclin said.
That missing component: Home.
“The minute I got back to St. Louis, I instantly got better,” Maclin said.
Feeling like himself again, Maclin went back to where it all started, Kirkwood High School where he would join the Pioneers as an assistant coach. In his eyes, the move was a no brainer.
“You’re never reaching your maximum potential as a person until you’re giving back and helping our youth,” he said.
And in just two years, another opportunity would come knocking. Head coach Ferrell Shelton would retire from coaching, leaving the door open for Maclin to be the next head coach.
“Being in that interview, probably the most nervous I’ve been in my entire life,” Maclin said, laughing.
He said he knew what the job meant, and that’s what made him so anxious. But while he was shaking in his boots, his future players were overcome with joy.
“I was just excited,” junior tight end Cam Paul said. “You know it’s really a special feeling because he’s a good guy and has great expertise on the game and really just knows everything about it.”
It was like a match made in heaven. Kirkwood helped Maclin become a man, and he felt it was only right he did the same for those coming up behind him.
“I know what my purpose is, and my purpose is to help these student-athletes, these kids you know the youth, succeed, develop, grow, mature on and off the football field,” Maclin said.
While the decision to make Maclin Kirkwood’s next head coach, it is still pending approval from the school board.
