Former Grimsley football Coach Damon Coiro talks DJ Reader’s time in HS, a journey to the Super Bowl

Former Grimsley head football Coach Damon Coiro joined HighSchoolOT’s Kyle Morton to talk about his former player and current Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle DJ Reader before the Super Bow.

Hello, everybody welcome to high school. Ot I’m Kyle Morton. I’m joined today by Damon Coryo, the Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator at Mallard Creek out in Charlotte. Uh Damon, thank you for taking the time. How are you doing today? I’m doing Fantastic. Thanks for having me on. Absolutely. Well, the reason that Damon is here with me today is because that prior to his time at Mallard Creek, he was once the head Coach at Grimsley High School in the early 2000 and ten’s uh at the same time that aa player named DJ Reader was their DJ Reader. Now, a defensive tackle on the Cincinnati Bengals, getting ready to play in the Super Bowl. So uh Damon, I just wanted to talk to you about a DJ a little bit and what you kind of uh gleaned from his journey. You got it. Uh So, so first of all I know it’s been a decade basically. What do you kind of remember about him when he was just just a young, a young kid kind of trying to make his way up through high school. I mean what a don’t you remember DJ was just a he was just a good boy. You know, I mean you put the take on the athletic part of the football, basketball and baseball part out of it and he was just a young man that everybody wanted to be around and, and look, he was good to people. Um and that came from the Foundation. He got at home and in the church of course, but, but he was just a good person. Um, and you know, I, I don’t know that anybody is surprised to see where he is right now. I think he’s just, he really is living out the potential that everybody saw for him, that, that he had within himself and, but he’s just a special, he was a special guy, you know that we, I got a picture um last week of him on signing day with our old principal, athletic director and dj’s parents, um, and send it over to him and it was if you know it was just a good moment and a good time in my life where i had the opportunity, not only Coach D. J, but a lot of young, great young men, but, but DJ is exactly where DJ is Supposed to be right now. You mentioned everyone kind of uh, you know, expected it and saw that potential. Uh, you know, when a kid is big and strong as he has rolls in, I’m sure you, you can Daydream about that potential, but do you remember when you may be more concretely realized, oh, this kid, he can really be special at the next level and then, you know, for me, I got their sophomore DJ sophomore year in high school was my first year there. Um, and we were at the hillside during the hillside and the DJ pulled on the track and head over heels man. He put that defensive end, I mean, he was feet over on his back, feet over his head and it was, that’s when you knew that he was something special and was able to, you know, it was just one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen still to this day. Just the when he made contact, his feet continue to drive on contact, hips Rolling through. I mean, it was just, it was beautiful, That was beautiful. Uh, you’re, you’re from the Triad area Originally, your urine charlotte coaching now with, with Coach Tinsley at Mallard Creek, but uh, he’s not the only Triad guy that’s on the Bengals. Germaine Pratt kind of from the area as well have some ties to the area. Uh, ogunjobi, how cool is it to, to see the region you’re from represented in the Super Bowl. Like listen to me, I think it’s, it’s really, really amazing Kyle that you can turn on and I know with Okonjo being uh, you know, injured, but you can turn on the television and you look at the Anchor of their defense, do inside techniques on the defensive line in the middle linebacker, all played in, within the guilford county school system, all within the same conference while baghdad was not. But, but, but, but within that same time period, I mean, it doesnt happen that you get one or two, you know, on the same team at the same time, but to get three that are all starters and all key Contributors. I mean, it’s pretty, I mean that’s something that’s pretty special and it speaks volumes to you know who they are as people of course and the people that they were able to surround themselves with and the work that they’ve put in and the the just what they’ve done to get to this point I think is really, really special and you might not ever see it, it’s something you might not ever see again, you know? Yeah, Akeem Davis gaither and BJ Hill also from north Carolina is that medal defense. So uh no no ogunjobi is sunday, but a lot of north carolina is on this defense ah DJ committed to Clemson, you know earlier in Davos tenure when they weren’t really Clemson yet. He was kind of part of that wave that helped them become Clemson. What was it kind of, do you remember? Can you think back to the kind of his recruiting journey and and what his goals were in helping live Clemson. DJ was a DJ loves baseball. Um and Clemson was Adamant is allowing a DJ to figure it out, allowing them he was able to go and play football and baseball and they were gonna let that play itself out, you know, their last recruiting trip down to Greensboro. I remember being in the school library with DJ And the staff came in with Coach Swinney and um but he basically talked about how, you know, he’s a dad as well and got up and he you know, acted like he was swinging Imaginary baseball back. Talking about him you know how he coached his son’s little league teams and I think the ability that they allowed DJ to figure DJ out and they allowed DJ to and that was what I think really made Clemson standout in the recruiting journey is he was able to do two things that he loved and all that was allowed to allow that process to play itself out. Mm hmm. And I think having him he was able to essentially leave it all on his terms and I think that was pretty important back there back there. He went through Clemson gets drafted in the fifth round in 2016 to Houston bounces around a bit between defensive end and nose tackle, their settles in now with the Bengals, he went from you know, 1/5 round pick, you’re not really guaranteed anything in the NFL to now. He’s the guy that’s helping shut down Derrick Henry and in in the Divisional round and what I from afar and from talking to him, what have you kind of seen from him as he’s grown from a depth player to a legitimate star out there on the defensive line, I think, you know, it’s DJ has always been a star and no matter what he’s done, no matter whether it was football or basketball or baseball, he’s always been able to take control of the game and right now he’s in a position, he’s playing a position where he, in reality can control the entire tempo of a football game. That’s really the one of the only positions on the field that when you’re sitting there in the middle and you’re taking all the double teams and you’re, and you’re doing the dirty work, you can have control of an entire game and he’s able to do that. Um, you know, and he’s done it from early on in his career, you know, from the Texans to, to Cincinnati. Um, and he’s done so with humility and, and with volunteerism and, and just being, you know, good things happen to good people and I think that’s what you see with him continuing to develop, um, and mature into something that, you know, anybody that’s surrounded with, you know, he was blessed to have that opportunity. Obviously DJ is a tremendous football player and he’s got a huge opportunity on Sunday. But you’ve mentioned his character a few times and how good of a person he is and has been since he was a kid. Can you elaborate on that a little more or do you have any specific Memories of just some kind of representing the community really well. You know, he, I was raised in such a manner by his mother and father, that respect, where I was at the utmost importance. He was loved by his parents and so loved by his parents and mom, with dad being deceased. But he was part of a home that was full of love and because it was full of love, he was able to share that with everyone else that was around him. Um, whether that be through service, whether that be through being a great teammate or just a great student in school, he was just, he was blessed with the ability to make people around him better, um, and continues to do so alright. Uh, Damon Corio of Mallard Creek Football, formerly of Grimsley. Thank you for taking the time today and uh, best of luck with your off season and spring workouts here as we get Rolling soon, appreciate all right, okay.