CHESAPEAKE, VA (WTKR)- Shon Mitchell knows Oscar Smith football. He had his own hand in helping continue the program's success as a player.
"I still love football and that will never change," he said.
Mitchell was the Tigers' quarterback from 2013-2016 and rewrote the VHSL history books. He set three state records during his high school days: career passing touchdowns (123), career passing yards (11.380) and career completions (747), the last two of which he still holds today.
"I went to a couple state championships, played on ESPN a couple different times," he recalled. "But more than that, just remember the times in the locker room with the boys, out here working on the field."
"When I was younger, I actually came out of the Tiger Cage with them one time," remembered Oscar Smith junior quarterback Lonnie Andrews III. "I sat on the sidelines with him and things like that. I had a talk with him when I was a kid."
Now Mitchell has returned to the field he used to patrol as a player, but instead of running the offense from behind center, he's helping to shape the current Tigers from the sidelines as the team's quarterback coach.
"If I can come back and serve in the way that the gospel teaches me to serve and pour into these guys the way that my coaches and my teammates poured into me, then so be it," Mitchell said. "I can't pass up that opportunity."
"He's very nit-picky with the little things," Andrews pointed out. "He knows that the little things are what's going to make us great, so just staying on us about the little things and things of that nature, it's just going to help me and (back-up quarterback) Brayden (Davis)."
Mitchell says he had no problem hanging up the cleats when his college career at William & Mary and Central Connecticut State ended. Now his main focus is being a husband, father and his career in healthcare. But a text message from a former teammate currently on the coaching staff lured him back, giving him a chance to return to the program that gave so much to him and guide the Tigers of the present, both on and off the field.
"I'm not a kid anymore who can turn a blind eye to it and be oblivious to it," he said of the issues some of the players face today. "There's a sense of responsibility for these kids on my head and I don't take that lightly."
While his goal is to coach the players up to gain as many yards as possible and be strong football players, he's more concerned with how he can impact them as people.
"How can I teach these young men how to be a father and take attributes from the football field into their life as a husband and things of that nature?," he said of his mission as a coach. "That's what means more to me than 'hey, how many touchdowns did you throw last night?.'"
Mitchell says he'll take things one season at a time, but has loved being involved with football again- a former gridiron great raising the bar for stars of today, not just in football, but in life.
"It's been awesome to be back," he said. "It's open arms and a warm welcome here. It definitely feels like home and it's just good to be back."
Mitchell and the Tigers visit Hickory Friday night at 7 p.m.
