MACON, Ga. — 20 years ago, coach Jeremy Wiggins graduated from Northeast High School preparing for his next level assignment of playing college football at Appalachian State. But that day, Wiggins left never knowing that his future would bring him full circle back to the east side.
“Coaching never came across my mind, but my coach did say I would make a good coach one day,” Wiggins said. “But now we are here today and it’s going pretty good. That’s always been the end goal is to get here and turn around this program to where it is today.”
As a Raider student athlete Wiggins excelled as all-city, all-region and all-state.
All-conference and all-American honors followed suit at college in Boone, North Carolina.
Now as a teacher, some of the keys to his success stem from having the experience of walking the same footsteps his players are sprinting through now and, at the core, he only wants the best for his players both on and off the field.
"Just the impact of teaching the kids how to handle business, how to be a man and how to be a good teammate you know those are the things we look for coming through the program,” Wiggins said.
Before Coach Wiggins returned to lead the Raiders as head coach, he spent some time in Warner Robins as a wide-receiver coach. He says those experiences and mentors prepared him for whatever comes his way.
“I learned a lot from Coach C. Wright as a player and I learned a lot from coach Bruce Mullen as a young coach how to handle people, how to organize how to make sure I take care of people.”, Wiggins said. “Working under Mike Chastain in Warner Robins taught me how to run a program how to manage a team, how to break down film all kinds of things so all those men influenced to be the coach I am today.”
Entering his 6th year as head coach at Northeast, Jeremy Wiggins is ready to make this season the best yet for Raider Nation.
The Raiders open their season Saturday night at 7 p.m. taking on Mary Persons in the Macon Touchdown Club Classic hosted at Mercer’s Five Star Stadium.