JACKSON — It’s all about the attitude for Milton Smith.
Coming from a storied football program like Starkville High School, Milton Smith knows what it takes to win championships. In 1984, Smith was a member of the first Starkville High football team to win a state title. The former Yellow Jacket went on to a football career at Mississippi State before becoming a coach.
On Monday, Smith, who is now at Laurel High, was one of 12 head coach on hand for the Mississippi High School Activities Association Road to the Championships football luncheon at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
Laurel (13-1) will play Lafayette (15-0) for the Class 4A crown at 3 p.m. Saturday at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Coliseum. That game will set the stage for the final title game, Starkville vs. Picayune at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Smith, who led Laurel to a victory against Noxubee County in the 2007 Class 4A championship game, knows what it is like to build a team to title contender. Laurel was a .500 team in 2004-05 before it went 7-3 in 2006 and failed to qualify for the postseason. He said getting players to buy into a plan is essential. He said it also is crucial for coaches to get players to appreciate tradition, which is what he feels Starkville coach Jamie Mitchell has done to get the Yellow Jackets back to Jackson.
“When I was in school, football was everything,” Smith said of his days at Starkville. “We were fortunate enough to go to the state championship my first year, and from then on we thought we were supposed to be there every year. It was never a thought of we weren’t going to make it. It was who are we going to play for the state championship.”
Smith played for Willis Wright at Starkville High, where he was an All-State pick and participated in the Mississippi High School All-Star game.
In 1983, Moss Point defeated Starkville 6-0 for the Class AA title. The following season, the MHSAA moved to five classes and Starkville earned a chance to compete for the first Class 5A title against Jackson Callaway. Starkville responded with a 26-0 victory.
In 1985, No. 1 Meridian shut down No. 2 Starkville’s vaunted running attack led by David Fair and Smith and dethroned the Yellow Jackets with a 12-3 victory in the Class 5A title game.
Smith went on to play cornerback for coach Rockey Felker at MSU from 1986-89. He also was part of a state championship baseball team at Starkville High in 1986.
Smith said the community was an essential component of the football program’s success at Starkville High. He said brothers, uncles, and great uncles played a “tremendous” brand of football at Starkville, and players were taught to follow in the footsteps of those players.
In 1981, Starkville lost to South Natchez 21-6 in the Class AA title game, the first year the state of Mississippi had four classifications.
“Our coaches stayed on us, but more so our parents and family members stayed on us to do the right things and to have the expectation to be in Jackson every year,” Smith said.
Smith said he has used the same philosophy at Laurel High since he became head coach in 2005. He said he and the players focus every year on making sure they are still practicing at Thanksgiving because that’s when they know they have done everything right.
On Saturday, Smith and the Golden Tornadoes hope to bring all the fixins to complete their title journey.
“I have a tremendous group of seniors and they have bought into what we are doing,” Smith said. “Attitude always is an important thing. Some people say it is cocky, some people say it is arrogant, but if you don’t have confidence in yourself and believe you’re going to win every game, there is no reason to play the game. Nobody wants to play for second. Unfortunately, somebody has to be second, but you have to instill in them there is only one reason to be here and to play the game. That is to win.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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