Faith, Family and Football

STARKVILLE – Jay Hughes isn't far from beginning his second season as a special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach at Terry High School. Now seven years since the former Mississippi State safety's MSU career ended, Hughes has gone from playing for one bunch of Bulldogs to coaching another.

Like any coach, there comes moments for Hughes when he has to get a player's attention. Maybe the youngster is being lazy. Perhaps he's not paying attention. That leaves Hughes in a spot where he has no choice but to step in and get stern. But before that moment, there's a filter somewhere between Hughes' brain and his mouth. It was placed there by his father – Mississippi State associate head coach and nickelbacks coach, Tony Hughes.

"The thing about him, he never cursed," Jay Hughes said of his dad. "He never used curse words. So I kind of take that into my game to try and figure out ways to get on a kid without cursing him out or talking to him ugly…I learned from him you don't have to get on a kid cursing them out."

A lot of times, kids become mirror images of those that raise them. In the case of Jay Hughes, it seems the apple indeed didn't fall far from the tree. Jay is his own man, but in many ways, his life has been completely shaped by his dad. And it's been a life crafted around a foundation of faith, family and football.

Faith

In the Hughes household, there are priorities. And while Tony has been in coaching since 1985, football has never been at the top of the list. Tony and his wife, Marion, tried to make sure both of their boys – Jay and Jamison – put God first and foremost.

"We're church people," Tony said. "So we raised them in the church. We go to church every Sunday and sometimes during the week. When they were being raised, a lot of times I was away working or doing something with recruiting and my wife kept them in the church. Whether it be revivals, on a Sunday, or Sunday school or whatever – that was instilled in them. That took precedence over anything else they might've done."

Maybe never was the Hughes' commitment to their faith better displayed than when Tony took a job with Louisiana Tech in 2003. Jay said his family was involved with a church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi at the time. The Hughes' move across the state line didn't change that. Jay recalls traveling nearly 500 miles all told each weekend, to get to church in Hattiesburg and then back to Ruston.

"We didn't know anything else," Jay said. "We didn't know, 'Hey, you're supposed to go have fun on Saturday night or go to the swimming pool.' We were going to church. We're going to read the Bible and study the word."

Tony and Marion's devotion to the Good Lord has made a lasting impact. Jay is nearly 30 years old now, but as the Bible says, 'Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.' Jay hasn't.

"I probably could count on both my hands the number of Sundays I've missed throughout my entire life," Jay said.

Family

With his faith as the foundation, Tony also exemplified to Jay, day in and day out, how to be a family man. Now Tony is quick to admit he doesn't get all the credit for that. He points to his bride for her role in things.

"She's always been supportive," Tony said of Marion. "She's always been a great mother and a great wife and an encourager. She's been my coach through all the ups and downs in my career and all the different places we've moved and all the jobs I've taken. She's been right there with me and hasn't blinked an eye."

Tony has been a part of many teams in his life. His favorite one has always been the squad under his own roof and Jay saw that in action. It absolutely has left a lasting impression.

"My mom and dad, they don't keep anything from each other," Jay said. "Even when we were small, I'd tell my dad, 'Hey, don't tell Mom.' Next thing I know, Mom comes to ask me what happened. I respected that about their relationship. That's something I carry as well."

But it wasn't just the strength of Tony and Marion's marriage that has stuck with Jay. It was his own bond with his father. Tony has always been there to be a sounding board for Jay. When Jay began to play sports as a kid, he saw not everyone had such a luxury.

"I was so fortunate to have a good [dad]," Jay said. "And I realized that at a young age that I was blessed that way, because a lot of my teammates didn't have fathers. They didn't have people they could go to for advice or wisdom or knowledge, not just about football but about life."

Jay still turns to Tony. And Tony is of course always just a phone call away. No matter how old Jay gets, Tony is still right there, ready to be Dad. It's what being family is all about.

Football

There's only one place in which Tony wasn't also 'Dad' for Jay. That was on the football field at Mississippi State. Later in Jay's MSU career, once he shifted to safety from cornerback, Tony was Jay's position coach. At least for a short while each day, Dad became Coach Hughes.

"I saw him as a coach more than a Dad in that position because I knew we were a part of something that was bigger than ourselves," Jay said. "We were a part of something that was bigger than our family. I didn't get upset when he got on me, because I knew he'd do the same thing to [former Bulldogs] Wade Bonner or Charles Mitchell or Nickoe Whitley. I didn't take anything personal."

Of course Tony was fine with how his son was addressing him. Tony said he was often called 'Coach' at home anyway, even by his wife at times.

But whether he was 'Coach' or 'Dad', here was a father getting to guide his son as he played at the highest level of college football. So was it weird? Was it ever at least a bit odd at times? It doesn't sound like it, and Tony credits much of that to Jay.

Jay originally came to Mississippi State as a highly-desired recruit, and that had very little to do with the fact Tony was his father. In fact, Tony wasn't even involved in Jay's recruitment all that much. Tony somewhat sat on the sidelines though it all, so that Jay could enjoy the process and not feel pressured to simply follow his dad. Meanwhile, the rest of the MSU the coaching staff went hard after Jay.

Jay of course did eventually put on the maroon and white. He turned out to be everything the Bulldogs hoped he would be, eventually being a team captain and key piece of the 2014 team that rose to No. 1 in the nation.

"He established himself as one of the best players on the team without my influence," Tony said of Jay. "[His teammates] saw how he worked. They saw the effort that he gave every day and how he was an intelligent player and a great leader. He was a dependable guy and had a great passion for the game. He was a great student and a fantastic person. He had those qualities that a guy like Dak [Prescott] had on offense, Jay had that on the defense. That's how well they respected him."

Great leader. Dependable. Fantastic person. Jay Hughes' football career exemplified how he was just a chip off the old block.

Fortunate

With lives built around faith, family and football, it all leaves both Tony and Jay feeling fortunate these days. Those three pillars are still in place for both men.

Of course Tony remains as a key piece of the Mississippi State staff and Jay is finding his own way in coaching. Tony is keeping up with Jay, full of pride.

"I'm going to be his biggest fan and biggest supporter down the road," Tony said.

As for Jay, he's about to crank it up in year two at Terry, where he's also the head track coach. Involved in two different sports, Jay has the ability to influence countless young individuals in the years to come.

It seems like a safe bet to think those kids are going to learn a lot about both life and athletics from Jay. And that's in large part a credit to his old man.

"I don't think I could have had a better father than the one I had," Jay said. "And I don't say that just because he's my dad. I say that because of the kind of man he is. He's the glue to everything…I got lucky brother. I got lucky."

Mississippi State University Athletics

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