In a sense, Damon Magazu never left East Carolina. After an outstanding playing career for the Pirates from 2010 to 2013, he spent some time in the work world as a corporate head hunter, applying his degree from ECU in business administration.
But he realized that football was still his passion and he got into coaching as a graduate assistant at his alma mater in 2016 and 2017.
He then spent two years at Oklahoma on the staff of former Pirate offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley as a grad assistant.
Most recently, he was at Nevada-Las Vegas coaching safeties, which is his current responsibility at ECU.
He has never forgotten his college football roots.
“A lot of the moments when I was here before, I hold pretty close to my heart, so it’s not like they’ve gone away at all,” Magazu said Wednesday. “There is a lot of familiarity and stuff when I walk around. I do remember, but it’s not like, ‘Oh, I forgot about that and this came back up.’ But it’s been fun to be back and also to see how much change in a positive way has happened around not just the athletic department but around the town also.”
For example?
‘I’m driving in from Fort Mill on January 2nd and all of a sudden there’s a darn overpass,” he said. “So instead of having to take that right and go over the train tracks, my GPS took me over an overpass. That was my first big surprise.”
Spring ball underway
East Carolina began spring football practice on Tuesday afternoon, which was the first day of spring on the calendar. With the roster change inherent in the college game today, it is a crucial period of development.
“The big thing for our guys, defensively and from a safety group was just play fast and play with great effort,” Magazu said. “We’ll make the correction schematically, but just cutting these guys loose and letting them go out, run around and have fun and play with discipline. And again, we’ll get stuff coached up in the film room.
“I thought for the most part (Tuesday), they did a pretty good job running to the ball, being competitive. And now we’ve just got to build on that and continue to raise the standard of what Coach (Mike) Houston and Coach (Blake) Harrell, defensive coordinator) have done here defensively. And so, I’m just excited to be a part of that and help these guys move forward.”
Springing forward
Magazu enjoyed spring practice in his days as a player.
“It’s almost one of my favorite times of the year,” Magazu said. “You’re not focused on an opponent. You’re focused on all football — all technique, all eye discipline, all coverage, details, run fits.
“To me, as a player and as a coach, it’s just so much fun because you have a little bit more time because you’re not going at it every single day. So you have a little bit more time to be detailed, to make sure that everybody’s on the same page and you can be exact with your eyes, your alignment, your discipline, your keys, and I think it’s a huge, huge part of the year to make some of your biggest strides from a true football schematic standpoint as a player and as a coach.”
Dad, Dave
Magazu’s dad, Dave Magazu, was an assistant coach for the Carolina Panthers when “Mags” signed with the Pirates out of Providence High School in Charlotte.
His dad was a huge influence.
“My dad retired from the NFL in 2016,” Magazu said. Then he actually coached in the AAF, the Alliance League with the Birmingham Iron. He passed (Dec. 17, 2021), slightly over two years ago.
“I was blessed to not only have that coach perspective from a high level, I mean, he coached in the NFL, coached in two Super Bowls, but he and I had such a good relationship and not just he and I, my whole family.
“We were able to separate the coach and the father and separate that relationship. After games, I would get the father version and then I would get the coach version. And we were so close that separation and our understanding was, it came natural and easy and a lot of times the coaching conversation and the dad conversation, a lot of information overlapped and it was always tough to say, ‘Hey, yeah, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,’ as a young player, me thinking I know everything when he’s got a pretty damn good idea.”
The pick
As a freshman at ECU, Magazu ended the 2010 N.C. State game with an interception of Russell Wilson in the end zone to preserve a 33-27 win in overtime.
Dave Magazu was there to see it.
“It was actually, funny how the Lord works,” Magazu said. “He was with the Panthers and they were on a bye week. He was actually at the game. He was on the field because before he went to the Panthers, he actually worked at Boston College under Tom O’Brien, who at the time was N.C. State’s head coach.
“He knew a lot of those guys on staff and worked with them. And so, he was on the sidelines for that. And I was able to actually go find him through all the madness after everything on the field and give him a hug and he told me that he was happy for me and proud of me.
“One of the coolest things was our strength coach at the time, … Coach (Mike) Golden, he grabbed my dad and made sure that he brought him into the weight room where we all went in postgame to make sure that he could be a part of that. And so that’s definitely something I’ll never forget, not necessarily the play, but being able to share something like that with my Pops.”
Props to Morgan
In recalling the interception, Magazu credited a teammate, Rahkeem Morgan.
“I truly just remember Rahkeem Morgan on his reroute inside out,” he said. “He made it so easy, because he was rerouting the heck out of him, and he just made it so easy to see that that he was trying to bend over the top. So once I saw him leaning, trying to get over top of the reroute, it just kind of fell into place. …
“I’ll continue to say it now. And I think he really made that play by the reroute, and everyone always laughs at me and says, ‘Yeah, yeah, okay.’ But shoot, he was my underneath help, and he helped a whole lot on that play.
“I kind of cut in front of him. It felt clean for me as far as, I didn’t feel like he ever even got a hand on the ball. And then obviously just making sure I went down to make sure the game was over. I went down pretty quick. Even if I tried to take off, my slow butt would’ve gotten caught pretty darn quick.”
Pathway to coaching
Magazu’s decision to go into coaching was a gradual realization.
“I initially didn’t want to be a coach,” he said. “Just growing up with my dad as a coach, I didn’t think I would be able to manage the time as far as away from family. And then the little bit of time you do have with your family, he managed it better than I think I would ever be able to. I never felt as a child that my dad was always gone.
“Because when he was around, he was around and he made it to as many sporting events and many meetings, whether it was for a school meeting or a sport meeting, he made it to so much that I always thought, ‘Man, I don’t know if I would be able to do that with a family.’
“When I got done playing, I actually worked in Charlotte in IT staffing for a headhunter group. … I kept calling my dad and saying, ‘Hey, I want to get into coaching. I don’t think this is what I want to do my whole life.’ And he kept saying, ‘Don’t do it, don’t do it.’ Eventually I called him, I said, ‘Hey, hey, I’m going to do this.’ And he was like, ‘All right, I can see that I can’t steer you away from this.’ So it kind of took some time away from football to understand. I always knew I loved the game, but it kind of helped me understand even more about how much I loved the game and being around a group of guys trying to move towards one goal.”
The safeties room
Magazu shared some thoughts on his position group.
“We’ve got a good group of a good mix of older guys with experience and some younger guys. And I think right now is we are all trying to build that relationship piece, not just coach to player, but player to coach and trying to make these guys all jell. I mean they’ve been around each other but trying to develop those relationships to become even stronger.
“I always think about relationships trump everything, and so if we come together and love each other and really trust each other, then every time we step into the room and leave our egos outside, it’s so such a better learning experience and teaching experience.
“They’ve been awesome. … I’m learning from them some of the scheme and they’re learning some new things from me. And right now, it’s just trying to keep it simple for these guys and let them go play.”
Game changers
Two factors have significantly changed college athletics, the elimination of transfer restrictions and compensation for Name, Image, Likeness.
“I’ll start with the transfer portal since I just got done talking about the importance of relationships,” Magazu said. “It starts when you’re recruiting a high school kid because we want to build it from a high school foundation here and continue to add on in that manner. And I think if you have that open and trustworthy relationship with the high school kid and their family, I think that kind of eliminates at least that initial transfer portal thought after maybe as a freshman, you’re not playing very much statistically speaking.
“If you have that relationship and you kind of build off of that and explain to them up front, ‘You may not play very much your freshman year,’ but if you’re open and honest about it with that relationship, I think a lot of times it helps them understand that it’s a process and progress in order to be able to get on that field most times.
“Not to say freshmen don’t play. If you’re the best player and you handle your business off the field, then you play. It’s a simple formula, but with that relationship piece, you get so many transfers in or transfers out that you have a whole new position group almost every single year. So going back to that foundation of getting guys close in the off season is so important to redo every single year.
“As far as NIL, I think guys definitely deserve to be paid for their name, image and likeness and be able to make money off of themselves for the time being. It’s what they deserve and we want to be able to help our guys as much as we can with what we’re allowed to do per NCAA. I’m definitely all for that. I think there’s some conversations that happen too soon with some of that NIL stuff as far as what potential recruits are asking, but I think it’s rightfully so that these guys get paid.”
Staying in touch
Magazu reeled off a list of former teammates and coaches with which he stays in contact.
“There’s so many guys that I continue to keep in contact with because you just have that special bond of playing together and going through some stuff and ups and downs,” he said. “You may not talk every single week, but as soon as you start texting or calling or you meet up with one of them, it’s right where you left off. And I think that’s a special bond that a lot of ECU alumni have with each other, whether you’ve played with each other or even if it’s somebody from a different era. You just kind of have that common connection.”
G-Vegas vs. Las Vegas
Magazu compared Greenville and Las Vegas, the two cities he has most recently worked in.
“One is the true Vegas and one is G-Vegas,” he said. “So, there’s a lot of similarities, I guess. But no, it’s totally different. Greenville is an SEC type town. The fans are the best in the nation, and I’ve said that for a long time. It’s a special place that a lot of people don’t understand until they end up either coming to a game or living here for a year or whatever it may be. So they’re complete opposites. I enjoyed my time there in Vegas, UNLV, and just excited to be back home.
“I’m just happy to be back home and all the fans, we always appreciate them and like I said, they’re the best in the nation. I mean, we show up on Saturdays and that thing’s packed out every single time, whether it’s a noon kickoff, or whether it’s a 7 p.m. kickoff. Sleet, rain, sunshine, it don’t matter. And we appreciate all the fans and all the support, and I know our entire staff and all of our players appreciate them also.”
Meaningful coaching
Players’ contributions are witnessed on fall Saturdays. The impact of coaches can be more subtle.
“Coaches have a huge impact, probably more so in the off season or during the game week than maybe we truly do on an actual Saturday,” Magazu said. “And I think at that point, the players got to trust their training, which has happened during the week or in the summer and put that into play when the bullets start flying. And so it’s all about the players and just making sure you’re putting them in a position to be successful both on the field and off the field. And as much as we can do that every single day, then we’ll be that much better.”
Magazu’s safeties will be helping develop transfer quarterbacks Katin Houser and Jake Garcia.
“We’ll all be sharpening each other up,” he said. “That’s part of it.”
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