JACKSONVILLE, Ark. (KATV) — Jacksonville High School has one of the most unique coaching staffs of any high school football team in Arkansas, as their head coach has a decorated resume in professional football.
A lot of kids have dreams of becoming professional athletes, and for those in high school, who better to lay that foundation than Jacksonville head coach Reggie Swinton.
“I think that’s why these kids fight so hard for us, because many of them, they know what I went through, and I’m no different than them,” Swinton told KATV last week.
Swinton was a star all-state athlete at Central High School in Little Rock before committing to play for Houston Nutt at Murray State University in Kentucky. And after setting multiple records as a wide receiver, Swinton declared for the 1998 NFL draft, where he would go undrafted. This would be the beginning of a wild professional football career.
Swinton signed as an undrafted free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars after the draft but was cut before the start of the season.
He then went to the Canadian Football League in 1999, signing with the Toronto Argonauts, but was traded a month later to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“A week later I was traded without even knowing,” says Swinton.
“I got there, got cut, they called me back, got cut, they called me back.”
Swinton signed with the Edmonton Eskimos but was released about a month after that.
In 2000, Swinton made his way back to the NFL when he was signed by the Seattle Seahawks but was cut once again.
Then he got another opportunity.
“The XFL came out in 2000, I went to the Las Vegas Outlaws, I was a 4th round draft pick. Got there, had a great training camp, and then they cut me.”
After being cut in 2001, he went back to the Natural State, signing with the Arkansas Twisters, an arena football team in North Little Rock. After being released by the Twisters, and then resigned not long after, Swinton would go on to set franchise records with 85 catches, 1,463 receiving yards, and 33 touchdowns. This is where he would be noticed by the Dallas Cowboys.
“You talk about being determined, I was determined to make it.”
Swinton would go on to have a short, but impactful NFL career.
He compiled 4,919 kick return yards, returning 2 kicks for a touchdown. He also recorded 1,311 punt return yards and 2 punt return touchdowns.
Over 5 years in the league, he also recorded 41 catches, 493 receiving yards, and 2 touchdowns across 69 games with the Cowboys, Detroit Lions, and Arizona Cardinals.
After hanging up the cleats in 2005, Swinton had been cut 9 times in his career and traded twice.
“These kids today, they give up so easy,” says Swinton.
“People told me to go find a job, but I was determined to make it because that was my goal since I was 13 years old.”
Swinton has played at the highest level of football, which is inspiring for players like Jacksonville running back Mason Ball, who is committed to play football at the University of Kentucky in the SEC.
“You do learn a lot more when the person teaching you has been where you’re trying to go,” says Ball.
“When he tells us something, he’s not just saying it because he thinks it. It’s because he knows it, he lived it.”
“The lessons he teaches us are often not even about football.”
Whether it was through coaching youth football or being a high school coach at Forrest City and Jacksonville, Swinton has coached numerous college football players.
Hanging on the wall in his office, he has framed pictures of players such as Quincy Rhodes Jr. who now plays defensive end for the Arkansas Razorbacks. He also has coached players like Ashtyn Williams (UCA linebacker), Josh Thrower (former Arkansas Tech defensive back), Tony Wilkins (Bethel College wide receiver), Delkarai Davis (Waldorf University linebacker), and many more.