Glory days: three topnotch NFL linebackers—Dexter Coakley, Zach Thomas, and Derek Smith—share their most enduring memories from college

Football Digest, Dec, 2003 by John Nixon

LINEBACKERS DEXTER COAKLEY, Zach Thomas, and Derek Smith all are enjoying solid NFL careers, but their minds never are far from their college days.

Coakley is in his seventh year with the Dallas Cowboys and has been named to the Pro Bowl Bowl twice. He played his college ball at Appalachian State, where he was a first-team Division I-AA All-America and Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore, junior, and senior. He also earned the Buck Buchanan Award honoring the nation's best Division I-AA defensive player.

Thomas also had a highly productive college career, at Texas Tech. As a senior, he was a consensus All-America and All-Southwest Conference first-team selection. He also was a finalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation's best linebacker, and was named the Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Since being drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the 1996 draft, he has been named to four Pro Bowls.

The San Francisco 49ers' Smith is not as decorated as Coakley and Thomas, but he always has been a dependable player, dating back to his days at Arizona State. He started every game for the Sun Devils in both his junior and senior years before being taken by the Washington Redskins in the third round of the 1997 draft. At Arizona State, Smith was an honorable mention All-Pac-10 pick. He also was a star in the classroom, graduating with a 3.5 grade point average in finance.

All three players share vivid memories of their college rivals, and each has a game that stands above the others.

When Coakley was at Appalachian State, the team's biggest rival in the Southern Conference was Marshall. Except for Coakley's freshman year in 1993 when the Mountaineers finished 4-7, Appalachian State battled Marshall every season for the Southern Conference rifle. Coakley's Appalachian State won twice.

The Thundering Heard moved to a new location, Marshall Stadium, in 1991. Entering the 2003 season, they had an incredible 94-5 record in their new digs, but two of those losses were courtesy of Appalachian State. The first time the Mountaineers beat Marshall in its new stadium came on November 21, 1992, in a 37-34 nail-biter. The next win was in 1995, by a 10-3 score. Coakley, of course, was playing for Appalachian State at that time.

"The game was in Huntington, W.Va., and the whole town shuts down when they play at home," Coakley recalls. "Green and white banners are everywhere in that town. The place looks like a ghost town on game day."

Marshall's fans are not known for treating visiting fans kindly, particularly those from their biggest rival. Appalachian State.

"Marshall's rims are only respectful to their own team," Coakley says. "They heckled us the entire game, and when we won, they were stunned. They threw everything at us, including cokes and heated pennies. I saw 80-year-old ladies throwing ice at us."

Coakley and the Mountaineers defense limited future New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington to 14 completions in 34 attempts and 162 yards. Coakley's 21 tackles had a huge impact on the outcome of the game.

"That game went back and forth," Coakley says. "The stadium was so packed they let the crowd sit on the lawn close to the field. Both offenses could score, so it had to be decided by the defenses. We had [future Houston Texans defensive back] Matt Stevens going against [future Minnesota Vikings wide receiver] Randy Moss. Imagine that battle."

Thomas says that when he returns to his home of Pampa, Texas, people there aren't interested in his latest season with the Dolphins. Says Thomas, "They want to talk about the game which everyone claims they attended.

That game was Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M on October 7, 1995, at Tech's home stadium in Lubbock.

"It was packed [51,205 fans in a stadium that seated 51,000], and it was wild," Thomas says. "That was my senior year, and the score was tied 7-7 [with 30 seconds left in the game]. A&M could run out the clock, and we would go into overtime, but they didn't."

Instead, the Aggies coaching staff believed its offense could either get into field goal range or even score a touchdown, a decision that proved to be the team's downfall.

"On previous plays, their running back, Leeland McElroy stayed in to block when I blitzed," Thomas says. "So on that one particular play, I faked the blitz and dropped back to read the quarterback.

"I picked off his pass and took it to the house [a 23-yard touchdown return]. That play put me on the map, and I think it got me drafted [by the Dolphins],"

In addition to the interception, Thomas contributed four solo tackles and nine assisted tackles.

Another intense rivalry in the Southwest is the annual Arizona State vs. Arizona battle. Smith transferred to Arizona State after two years at Snow Junior College in Utah but was quickly schooled on the rivalry.

"When I got to Tempe, I learned quickly the community says if you win only one game, beat the University of Arizona," Smith says. "I learned to hate the Wildcats right away."