Johnthan Banks wasn’t ready.
The former Mississippi State star cornerback was working in sales for a distributing company when he crossed paths with Vowells Marketplace store manager Max Stillman, whose son Seth is the defensive coordinator for the New Hope High School football team. Stillman suggested that Banks — a second-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2013 who went on to play five seasons in the NFL — could go help out Seth’s defense as an assistant coach for the Trojans.
Feeling unprepared to return to the high school ranks, Banks blew him off.
Then Seth Stillman hit Banks up on Twitter, and the former Bulldogs standout, who coached defensive backs at Starkville in 2018 and 2019, got to thinking. Banks met with Seth, head coach Wade Tackett and principal Matt Smith. He liked how everybody got along within the Trojans’ program — how everybody had the same attitude and the same mindset.
“I just knew that was the place I needed to be,” Banks told The Dispatch.
Last week, New Hope hired Banks as its new full-time secondary coach and high school teacher. With certification in a variety of content areas, Banks said he will help out wherever the school needs him.
“I’m excited,” Banks said. “I’m just ready to get going.”
New Hope has won just four games over the last two years, but the former all-American and Jim Thorpe Award winner said he views the school as one of the best in the state — thanks to players who are willing to learn.
“I couldn’t ask for a better job,” Banks said. “They would run through a wall for you.”
Tackett said he saw the same passion in Banks, part of the reason the hiring worked as a mutual fit for both coaches. Of course, Banks’ prodigious past didn’t hurt things.
“One of the first things that attracted me to Johnthan was just his playing experience at the collegiate level and the NFL level,” Tackett said.
The head coach said hiring someone who is from the area, who was a “big deal” in college and who is a household name among his players is huge for his team.
“To get somebody of that caliber on your staff, it’s very rare,” Tackett said. “It’s welcomed.”
Banks said he plans to use his experience to “bring a different perspective from somebody who’s done it at the highest level.”
“I think it’s just going to help overall and help the team,” he said.
New Hope principal Matt Smith said the addition of Banks to the staff is a “huge hire” for the school.
“We’re lucky and blessed to have him, and we expect him to have a huge impact on our young kids all around,” Smith said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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