After a successful 10-year career as a defensive tackle in the National Football League, former Vicksburg High star Michael Myers took some time to relax and adjust to a life away from the game.

Three years was enough and the lure of football was too much. Since he had made a home in the Dallas metroplex, Myers called the Cowboys organization about enrolling in the league’s minority coaching apprenticeship. Myers and Leon Lett, another former Hinds Community College star, learned the basic coaching ropes under the Cowboys’ staff in 2011.

That one season left Myers wanting more. He began calling schools about coaching opportunities. His old home at Hinds answered his call.

Myers will coach defensive line as a graduate assistant under head coach Gene Murphy, who coached Myers when he was at Hinds.

“I wanted to have an opportunity to coach and (Hinds president) Dr. Clyde Muse said I could get started at the place where it all started for me here at Hinds,” Myers said. “I did that year in Dallas with Leon Lett and that provided a big jump toward steering me into getting a coaching job. Not only did I work with the Cowboys, but I also did some intern work with June Jones’ staff at SMU.”

Jones, who also coached in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons, gave Myers a coaching mantra to work by.

“He said, ‘Keep it simple and do your job,’” Myers said.

Myers feels he will be a great example for the type of kids Hinds gets — players who dream of making it to the NFL, but have struggled academically in high school.

“This is a way to give back to the kids,” Myers said. “Just because you didn’t get it done with the books in high school it’s not a stopgap. I’m an example of some one who came here, got his act together, went Division I to Alabama and then went on to the NFL.”

During his two-year stint at Hinds, the Eagles went 21-3, won two junior college bowl games and two MACJC and Region 23 titles. He was one of 16 Division I signees.

Myers signed with Alabama. In his junior season in 1996, Myers helped lead the Crimson Tide to a 10-3 record and a win in the Outback Bowl against Michigan. He had 15 sacks that season.

After college, he was drafted by the Cowboys in the fourth round. In 2001, Myers became a starter and helped the Cowboys rank fourth in the NFL in total defense. He started 16 games in 2002, but was released six games into the 2003 season. He was picked up the Cleveland Browns and had the best game of his career with 10 tackles and two sacks against the Baltimore Ravens.

Cleveland had a coaching change in 2004 and the new staff switched to a 3-4 defense.

Myers was traded to Denver, a team that enjoyed its best season in 2005 since the John Elway-led Super Bowl teams from 1997-98.

The Broncos went 13-3 as Myers made 50 tackles as a starter. They beat Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the 2005 divisional playoff game in Denver and earned the right to host the AFC championship game against Pittsburgh.

“We should have won that game,” Myers said of a crushing 34-17 loss. “We had been undefeated at home before that game.”

The Broncos made four turnovers in the first half and the Steelers jumped out to a 24-3 halftime lead. Denver rallied in the second half, pulling within a touchdown at 24-17, but ran out of gas. Pittsburgh went on to beat Seattle in the Super Bowl.

Myers spent the 2006 season with the Broncos before signing with Cincinnati in 2007. He had one more career highlight in the 2008 season when he made an interception against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football. He finished his career with 259 tackles and 151⁄2 sacks.

“My career in the NFL taught me that you have to make sacrifices to play this game,” Myers said.