North Carolina State University Athletics
Program Spotlight: Miguel Scott
10/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Bruce Winkworth
Raleigh, N.C. - And then there was one.
Just three years ago, three members of NC State’s starting defensive unit and a key reserve hailed from the same football powerhouse in Miami, Killian High School. At Killian, the football team is known as the Cougars. At NC State, a quartet of Killian grads linebackers Pat Thomas and Stephen Tulloch and safeties Andre Maddox and Miguel Scott jazzed that up just a bit and instead dubbed themselves the Killian Killer Kats.
“Killian has a really strong tradition,” says Scott, the lone remaining Killer Kat. “That’s what we live for down there, football. My freshman and sophomore years, we really weren’t that good. We were up and down both seasons. But when coach Billy Rolle took the job at Killian, our program just jumped to a whole different stature. We went 11-1 my senior year.”
At NC State, the Killer Kats played on some of the most memorable defensive units in school history. In 2004, the year all four were together in Raleigh, the Wolfpack ranked No. 1 in the country defensively, allowing just 2,435 total yards in 11 games, an average of 221.4 yards per game. That is the fewest yards per game allowed by an NC State defense since at least the formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953.
The yardage allowed increased each of the next two years, to 298.7 and 317.2 yards per game, respectively, still excellent numbers. In fact, the three-year average of 280.7 yards per game from 2004-06 is the best at NC State since 1989-91. And the last time before 2004-05 that the Wolfpack allowed fewer than 300 total yards in back-to-back seasons was 1966-67.
Most of the starters from those defenses wound up in the National Football League, including three first-rounders in the 2006 draft. Three Killian Killer Kats moved on to the professional ranks as well. Thomas was the first to leave, a sixth-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2005. A year later, the New York Jets tabbed Maddox in the fifth round. The 2006 NFL draft saw Tulloch go to the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round. Thomas and Tulloch still are playing with the Jags and Titans, respectively. Maddox logged two years with the Jets before being released this summer, and currently is looking for another place to land in the NFL.
And that leaves Scott as the lone remaining Killer Kat.
“It’s cool,” Scott says. “Lonely at times, a lot of big shoes to fill. That’s a good group, a real good group. All my boys are in the NFL right now. I’m the last one.”
Like most college players, Scott was a standout in high school, the caveat being that it was generally harder to stand out at Killian than at most high schools because of the overall talent level. As a senior for the Cougars, Scott had 65 tackles, broke up five passes and intercepted three.
Because of his reputation, it’s almost a lock that he put those stats together while opposing quarterbacks were looking to throw to the other side of the field. Killian may have been loaded with talent, but Scott was special. ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Lemming ranked him the No. 12 cornerback prospect in the nation, and he was named to Prep Star’s all-region team and the Florida Super 75.
When it came time to decide where to go to college, Scott had options. Miami born and bred, he did not make the decision to leave south Florida for the cooler climes of Raleigh without giving it serious thought. In the end, however, the presence of three former teammates and a Wolfpack program that was riding high made the decision easy for Scott.
“When I signed my letter-of-intent, North Carolina State was ranked No. 9 in the country,” Scott says. “That had a lot to do with it. Also, my teammates, Stephen Tulloch, Pat, Andre, they were all here and telling me good things about North Carolina State and what the school could give to me in my career.”
Scott got to Raleigh in January 2004 and the first thing he faced when he went to spring practice was a possible position switch. Asking a cornerback to move to safety often is like asking a shortstop to move to second base. Scott proved to be a pragmatist and not a prima donna. One look at the Wolfpack’s prospective depth chart for the 2004 season made this move to safety a no-brainer.
“Coach [Chuck] Amato gave me the option of playing corner or safety,” Scott says. “When I first came in they were very deep at corner and I saw I’d have a good chance of playing at safety, so I said to myself that I’d give it a try. And I stuck with it.”
And stuck with. And stuck with it. Scott might be remembered best as a Killer Kat, but it should be duly noted that he also is the most seasoned, veteran player on the current Wolfpack roster. Entering the season, he had played more career snaps than anyone else on the team, and has been a stalwart in the secondary since his sophomore season.
“I’ve stayed healthy the whole time I’ve been here,” Scott says by way of explanation. “I’ve played a lot. It’s been a good experience.”
Scott’s longevity may be more than just a matter of staying healthy. He’s been pretty good, too. He was good enough as a freshman to see action in every game of the 2004 season, beginning with a 42-0 rout of Richmond. Scott got several tackles against the Spiders, including one for a loss. Later that year, he blocked a punt early in the Pack’s 52-14 win over East Carolina to help NC State begin to pull away from the Pirates.
The next year he moved into the starting lineup at free safety and has been there ever since. He missed two games that year due to injury, but played an average of 57 snaps a game and was a part of 53 tackles for the season. A year ago, he played 46 fewer snaps and made 15 more tackles, including two for losses.
In the 2007 NC State football media guide, Scott lists going to college as his greatest accomplishment. In December, he will be able to amend that to graduating from college. On track to graduate on time, Scott will receive his degree in sport management at the university’s December commencement exercises, which will be a big day for his family.
His mom, Patricia Clark, will be there from Miami, along with his brother and sister. Their presence alone would made the day special for Scott, but his wife Juanita and their daughter, Jazariyah will be there also, and that will made Scott’s graduation especially significant. Of course, the three-year-old Jazariyah, might not appreciate the significance of the occasion, but for Scott the occasion is significant because of her.
“When I got out to the practice fields or play in a game, I sit down and think,” Scott says. “I’m not just playing for myself; I’m playing for my family too. I want my daughter to grow up and have the same life that I’ve had. I had a pretty good life coming up because my mom took care of me, my brother and my sister, and she did a good job. She was able to give us everything that we wanted, and I want my daughter to receive the same from me.”
Asked what Jazariyah is like, Scott did not hesitate.
“She’s like her daddy,” Scott says. “She’s very energetic. She likes to explore a lot and do things on her own. She’s a very independent little girl. She was running around when she was about one year old, running around, climbing things, turning my computer on, all sorts of things.”
So maybe this isn’t the last of the Killian Killer Kats. Don’t look now, but this particular Killer Kat has a Killer Kitten on his hands.
Raleigh, N.C. - And then there was one.
Just three years ago, three members of NC State’s starting defensive unit and a key reserve hailed from the same football powerhouse in Miami, Killian High School. At Killian, the football team is known as the Cougars. At NC State, a quartet of Killian grads linebackers Pat Thomas and Stephen Tulloch and safeties Andre Maddox and Miguel Scott jazzed that up just a bit and instead dubbed themselves the Killian Killer Kats.
“Killian has a really strong tradition,” says Scott, the lone remaining Killer Kat. “That’s what we live for down there, football. My freshman and sophomore years, we really weren’t that good. We were up and down both seasons. But when coach Billy Rolle took the job at Killian, our program just jumped to a whole different stature. We went 11-1 my senior year.”
At NC State, the Killer Kats played on some of the most memorable defensive units in school history. In 2004, the year all four were together in Raleigh, the Wolfpack ranked No. 1 in the country defensively, allowing just 2,435 total yards in 11 games, an average of 221.4 yards per game. That is the fewest yards per game allowed by an NC State defense since at least the formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953.
The yardage allowed increased each of the next two years, to 298.7 and 317.2 yards per game, respectively, still excellent numbers. In fact, the three-year average of 280.7 yards per game from 2004-06 is the best at NC State since 1989-91. And the last time before 2004-05 that the Wolfpack allowed fewer than 300 total yards in back-to-back seasons was 1966-67.
Most of the starters from those defenses wound up in the National Football League, including three first-rounders in the 2006 draft. Three Killian Killer Kats moved on to the professional ranks as well. Thomas was the first to leave, a sixth-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2005. A year later, the New York Jets tabbed Maddox in the fifth round. The 2006 NFL draft saw Tulloch go to the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round. Thomas and Tulloch still are playing with the Jags and Titans, respectively. Maddox logged two years with the Jets before being released this summer, and currently is looking for another place to land in the NFL.
And that leaves Scott as the lone remaining Killer Kat.
“It’s cool,” Scott says. “Lonely at times, a lot of big shoes to fill. That’s a good group, a real good group. All my boys are in the NFL right now. I’m the last one.”
Like most college players, Scott was a standout in high school, the caveat being that it was generally harder to stand out at Killian than at most high schools because of the overall talent level. As a senior for the Cougars, Scott had 65 tackles, broke up five passes and intercepted three.
Because of his reputation, it’s almost a lock that he put those stats together while opposing quarterbacks were looking to throw to the other side of the field. Killian may have been loaded with talent, but Scott was special. ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Lemming ranked him the No. 12 cornerback prospect in the nation, and he was named to Prep Star’s all-region team and the Florida Super 75.
When it came time to decide where to go to college, Scott had options. Miami born and bred, he did not make the decision to leave south Florida for the cooler climes of Raleigh without giving it serious thought. In the end, however, the presence of three former teammates and a Wolfpack program that was riding high made the decision easy for Scott.
“When I signed my letter-of-intent, North Carolina State was ranked No. 9 in the country,” Scott says. “That had a lot to do with it. Also, my teammates, Stephen Tulloch, Pat, Andre, they were all here and telling me good things about North Carolina State and what the school could give to me in my career.”
Scott got to Raleigh in January 2004 and the first thing he faced when he went to spring practice was a possible position switch. Asking a cornerback to move to safety often is like asking a shortstop to move to second base. Scott proved to be a pragmatist and not a prima donna. One look at the Wolfpack’s prospective depth chart for the 2004 season made this move to safety a no-brainer.
“Coach [Chuck] Amato gave me the option of playing corner or safety,” Scott says. “When I first came in they were very deep at corner and I saw I’d have a good chance of playing at safety, so I said to myself that I’d give it a try. And I stuck with it.”
And stuck with. And stuck with it. Scott might be remembered best as a Killer Kat, but it should be duly noted that he also is the most seasoned, veteran player on the current Wolfpack roster. Entering the season, he had played more career snaps than anyone else on the team, and has been a stalwart in the secondary since his sophomore season.
“I’ve stayed healthy the whole time I’ve been here,” Scott says by way of explanation. “I’ve played a lot. It’s been a good experience.”
Scott’s longevity may be more than just a matter of staying healthy. He’s been pretty good, too. He was good enough as a freshman to see action in every game of the 2004 season, beginning with a 42-0 rout of Richmond. Scott got several tackles against the Spiders, including one for a loss. Later that year, he blocked a punt early in the Pack’s 52-14 win over East Carolina to help NC State begin to pull away from the Pirates.
The next year he moved into the starting lineup at free safety and has been there ever since. He missed two games that year due to injury, but played an average of 57 snaps a game and was a part of 53 tackles for the season. A year ago, he played 46 fewer snaps and made 15 more tackles, including two for losses.
In the 2007 NC State football media guide, Scott lists going to college as his greatest accomplishment. In December, he will be able to amend that to graduating from college. On track to graduate on time, Scott will receive his degree in sport management at the university’s December commencement exercises, which will be a big day for his family.
His mom, Patricia Clark, will be there from Miami, along with his brother and sister. Their presence alone would made the day special for Scott, but his wife Juanita and their daughter, Jazariyah will be there also, and that will made Scott’s graduation especially significant. Of course, the three-year-old Jazariyah, might not appreciate the significance of the occasion, but for Scott the occasion is significant because of her.
“When I got out to the practice fields or play in a game, I sit down and think,” Scott says. “I’m not just playing for myself; I’m playing for my family too. I want my daughter to grow up and have the same life that I’ve had. I had a pretty good life coming up because my mom took care of me, my brother and my sister, and she did a good job. She was able to give us everything that we wanted, and I want my daughter to receive the same from me.”
Asked what Jazariyah is like, Scott did not hesitate.
“She’s like her daddy,” Scott says. “She’s very energetic. She likes to explore a lot and do things on her own. She’s a very independent little girl. She was running around when she was about one year old, running around, climbing things, turning my computer on, all sorts of things.”
So maybe this isn’t the last of the Killian Killer Kats. Don’t look now, but this particular Killer Kat has a Killer Kitten on his hands.
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