Corico Wright ready to give something back through coaching career

Corico Wright said he has gotten so much from the coaches throughout his football career that he is ready to give something back.

The former Baldwin star will get that chance after being hired recently to coach defensive backs at Murray State, an FCS program in Kentucky. Wright spent the past two seasons as a graduate assistant at Clemson

"As a GA, you feel like you're living in the shadows of the coaches and you wonder if, and not when, you're going to get your chance," Wright said. "And then you get the call, and it's like, 'Wow, OK this is the place. This is the first one.' "

"Here I am; I'm getting my chance. But I don't want to just be their coach. I want to help them on and off the field. That's what my coaches have done for me, and now I get a chance to do the same thing."

Wright graduated from Clemson in 2012 and got his graduate degree in 2015. He played linebacker for the Tigers but has worked with secondary coach Mike Reed and said he is looking forward to coaching that position.

Wright pointed to the work by his coaches at Baldwin -- Jesse Hicks, Ronnie Baker, Rico Gibson and Joaquin Sample -- for a large part of his success, saying Sample used to give him rides home from practice.

"Those coaches were so good to me, and I learned so much from them," Wright said. "If it wasn't for those coaches, I wouldn't be where I am."

Those kinds of relationships continued at Clemson with Wright praising the Clemson defensive staff -- Reed, defensive coordinator Brent Venables, co-defensive coordinator/defensive ends coach Marion Hobby and associate head coach/defensive tackles coach Dan Brooks -- for working with him and giving him a chance as a graduate assistant.

"The coaches there really care about you and want you to do well," Wright said. "How they balance what they have to do and all the hours they have to work with their family and the rest of their lives, those things have really helped me."

Wright said he also keeps in touch with Kevin Steele, his former defensive coordinator at Clemson and currently the defensive coordinator at Auburn.

"Still being in touch with me, he's still a big part of my life," Wright said. "Not all coaches would do that. They're so focused on what they have to do and not the people who work for them. He's not like that. He calls, and we talk about everything that's going on, and he cares about what's going on with me."

Wright was part of Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney's first recruiting class, and Swinney talked about Wright last week on the website Tigernet.com.

"He asked me when he needed to leave, and I said, 'You better be in the car on your way right now. Don't worry about me. You better hurry up before they change their mind,' " Swinney said with a laugh. "I'm really happy for Corico. He did a great job. Corico was in my first signing class, and it's fun to see a guy like that ... not only does he get his first job, but he gets his first job coaching a position he never played, coaching corners.

"But he was a leader for us, a good player, and he really went above and beyond to learn the entire defense and system. He's been working in the secondary the past year, trying to learn the craft back there."

Wright said he was appreciative of Swinney being so excited about his first opportunity in the coaching profession.

"That conversation was so exciting and so crazy," Wright said. "He's been a part of my life for the last seven years, and for him to be so excited for me, really meant a lot to me. He told me, 'You have done everything we've asked you to do and have gone above and beyond, and we're so proud of you. It's your time.' That meant a lot.

"Being at Clemson, I loved my time there because the coaches let you be a big part of practice and run your own segments of practice. At a lot of places, it's like, 'You're a GA, just do what I tell you to do.' At Clemson, they tell you what to do, but they also let you have a say in how you want to do things and what you want to do. That's big for Coach Swinney to let you be a big part in everything, and he wants to see his coaches advance and better themselves."

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 1:33 PM with the headline "Corico Wright ready to give something back through coaching career ."