Q: You come from a football background with your dad being a head coach. What was it like growing up with that background?

Wright: "When you're a kid growing up with a certain lifestyle around your parents, that's just the way things are. When I went to football practices and games and got to be on the sideline with my dad on Friday nights, that was just the culture I was in and the lifestyle I grew up around. It wasn't until I was a little bit older, that I realized that I had a special childhood."

Q: What were some of the earliest memories you had growing up with your dad and his coaching experience?

Wright: "My dad coached in Starkville for five seasons and went to four state championships, and won a title there. He had several kids there at Starkville that went straight to Mississippi State, and just growing up and dreaming about being one of those guys someday is what I really first remember about his career."

Q: What is the biggest thing that you learned from your dad, on and off the field?

Wright: "To treat people fairly. I think it is a pretty simple formula. He just cared about people and understood how to deal with people and be honest with them. He had some good personal qualities and I think that everyone that was around him in his career will agree with that."

Q: When did you first realize that you wanted to be a football coach?

Wright: "When I was in college, I had an idea that I may want to coach, but instead, I majored in business and tried to do something else. It took a year of being away from the sport to make me realize that coaching is what I really wanted to do. I couldn't spend one football season away from it, so in 2001 when I first graduated college, I did something else. (But) it really wasn't for me, and I would find myself in the office scribbling down offensive formations, defensive alignments and things like that. I wouldn't miss a game on television during that time and became a true fan of all levels of football when I wasn't around it. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to live without it."

Q: How much does your father's legacy drive and motivate you?

Wright: "It's really not something that I think about a whole lot. I'm extremely proud of my father's background, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. But as far as thinking about him on a day-to-day basis, it doesn't really happen. I may put myself in a situation where I ask myself what he would do. But it's not anything that I don't ask what any other coach would do. That's just a part of my background, so you have that history and experience to draw from in your past that you have to base your decisions on."

Q: What is your relationship like with your father?

Wright: "I keep him on speed dial. He's been to a couple of our preseason sessions and his advice is something that I treasure. I definitely take whatever he says into consideration, just like the other coaches on the staff. I tell our staff to be 'information gatherers' and to gather as much information as we can from each other and make the best decisions for the Northwest Ranger football team."

Q: Going back to your senior year of high school, what was the recruiting process like for you?

Wright: "I was not heavily recruited in high school. I was a good offensive lineman, but not great. I knew that if I had the chance to go play college football at any level that I would take advantage of it. I had some small school offers and two or three small Division I offers, and I chose Arkansas State. At the time, coach Ricky Herzog was the guy that recruited me and I had a really good relationship with him. He's a guy that I still think highly of to this day. When I signed my scholarship with them, they were coming off of a 6-5 record and were a program on the rise. Jonesboro was only a couple hours away from home, so having my family close by ad letting them be in position to come and watch most of the home games was very appealing to me."

Q: How would you describe your time at Arkansas State?

Wright: "I loved it and wouldn't trade a thing for it. I wish we would have won more football games. People don't realize that even for the players at the Division I level, it is a full time job. I had a lot of blood, sweat, tears and hours invested into winning football games. We didn't win that many games when I was there, but it was very important to the coaches, the staff and to the players. We worked hard at it, but at the end of the day, we lost a lot of close games. Still, I got a lot of experiences that I wouldn't trade for anything. I was around a lot of great coaches when I was there, including Mike Tomlin, Greg Studrawa and the list just goes on. Being around those coaches and the guys that I played with, I wouldn't trade that for anything."

Q: You played long snapper. What is the key to playing in that position?

Wright: "Repetition. You have to do it about 100 times a day for a period of years, and then you're ready to do it in front of 80,000 people. That's the big thing, having that memory in your muscles and wrist and be able to execute a good long snap when you're so nervous and sweaty that you can't feel the football."

Q: Your first coaching job was in your hometown of Batesville, coaching at North Delta. What was your experiences there?

Wright: "It was just a lot of fun. I didn't have a job at the time and began helping out there. At that point, I really felt like I was still a player, so I could still joke around with the players. As you move up in your career, some of that begins to fade. You start to get more serious and more professional and put that distance between you and the players."

Q: Your next stop was at Meridian High School. What was that like?

Wright: "It was a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. People don't realize that high school coaches are also in the classroom all day, every day. I taught some computer and business courses, which was a learning experience. I had to learn that classroom management and the discipline that I think helps my coaching career today. The thing that I really enjoyed was being in the classroom with some of the guys that I coached and being around them 8-10 hours a day at times. We had a really close bond and I was a young coach at the time, and some of the guys that I coached are really close to me and I keep up with them from time to time."

Q: After you left Meridian, you went up to the college level, coaching at Millsaps. Describe that experience moving up to the four-year college level.

Wright: "Millsaps was a lot of fun and a big reason was the coaching staff that we had there. I was about 28 at the time, and looking back, we were all about the same age. Everyone was in that point of their career where they were trying to get their foot in the door and recruit as hard as we could to try to make a name for ourselves. Some of those coaches have moved on to some big places and are doing some incredible things. Aaron Pelch is now the head coach there, Shannon Dawson is at West Virginia, Marcus Woodson is at Fresno State and David Johnson is the receivers coach at Tulane. We coached some really good players there too, and they were the type of kids that in 10 or 15 years, you were going to look at them and be proud to call yourself an associate of theirs."

Q: After Millsaps, you came to Northwest. How did you end up here?

Wright: "In 2007, the Northwest head coaching job came open. I got two phone calls right around the same time. One was from David Saunders, who was the former recruiting coordinator at Ole Miss and the other was from Ricky Woods. Both of them expressed to me that they were interested in getting the head coaching job here and they both asked me to be on their staff if they got the job. So I had already made my mind up that I was going to come to Northwest. It's close to home and I thought highly of the football program and I wanted to win a lot of games here in the long run."

Q: You were the offensive line coach in all of your previous stops, and then became a coordinator at Northwest. What was that transition like for you?

Wright: "It was a learning experience. I spent a lot of time on the road with some other quarterback and position coaches, and basically picked their brains for ideas and drills that might work. Quite honestly, there's no better experience than getting out there and doing it yourself. My first couple of years here were definitely a growing experience and looking back now, there are a lot of things that I would do differently and some things that I would change. (But) you don't have that luxury. All you can do now is take those experiences, build on them and try to make the Northwest football team as best as they can be."

Q: When you were the offensive coordinator here, the Rangers won a lot of games and put up a lot of points. How did you design your offense?

Wright: "I knew that I wanted to throw the football and I felt like we were going to be able to find a good quarterback. I also felt that we could find some good speed and receivers and be able to have a good enough offensive line to be able to protect. When I was at Millsaps, we were known for throwing the ball around and having a pass-heavy offense. Taking what we did at Millsaps, I added a few things to the running game and started from there."

Q: You were here at Northwest for five years. What was your experience like in the five seasons that you spent here?

Wright: "It was an incredible experience. I believe in Northwest and the kids that we get here. I think that we can sell Northwest to these kids, and that it is a place that they will come to. They compare us to other junior colleges. When you look at our facilities, our town, our location, and the commitment that the school is making to the students and the time that the coaching staff is going to invest in all the kids, they're making them a better student, a better son, and a completely new person. We have a lot to sell here."

Q: Ricky Woods retired after winning the Brazos Valley Bowl in 2012. When he left, many people thought that you would be named the new head coach. When that didn't happen, what did you think and how did that impact you?

Wright: "We all have highs and lows in our life, and for me, I would say that it was a low point. However, to say that it was unexpected is not true. I didn't think that there was a great chance of me getting the head coaching job here. I wanted it at the time, but wisely, I was looking at other avenues as well and eventually found a really good job at Holmes. I was very blessed that particular opportunity opened up when it did. To say that I was a little disappointed is true, but to say that I was surprised or shocked isn't true. I thought that they may explore options outside, and they did. I'm just glad to be back here now."

Q: How excited are you to be back at Northwest as the head coach?

Wright: "It's tough to hide the emotions, but I couldn't be happier that I am back here. It's a place and an area that I love and it's close to where I grew up. I used to come to Northwest football games on Thursday nights when I was in high school. Now, just to imagine myself in the same place where a legend like Bobby Franklin coached and to be able to follow Coach Woods is good company, and I'm privileged to be here among those names."

Q: You have brought a couple of familiar faces on your staff here. How important is it for you to find coaches that are the right fit?

Wright: "To me, everybody that is here was an absolute no-brainer decision to try and get them to come back here. Coach Scott Oakley is the holdover from last year's staff, and with his background and history here at the school and teaching wide receivers and his ability to recruit, he was a definite no-brainer. We brought back offensive line coach Jim Jones, who did a phenomenal job here in his previous stint and has done an incredible job in recruiting this year. Those two guys hopped right on board and I was smiling on the inside when both of those guys said yes. On defense, I knew Benjy Parker was going to be a guy that I was going to go after and I'm tickled that he decided to come along. He's joined by Jonathan Webster, who I've known for quite a while now. I recruited against him, which is the main reason that I really wanted him. He's really good in his personal relationships with the recruits. Travis Macon was a guy that I really didn't know a lot about, but he was highly recommended by a lot of people and he turned out to just be invaluable in the recruiting process. He's also doing a phenomenal job out there with the defensive line."

Q: You have a lot of freshmen on this year's team. What's it going to be like to have to rely on a lot of young guys?

Wright: "It's tough and we've made some mistakes. It seems like we've been making more mistakes than positive things over the last three weeks. The only thing that we know how to do is keep at it. I think that one mistake that I would like to avoid is making changes in panic. We're just going to stay positive as long as we can and stick with the plan. Our expectations are not going to drop and we're going to have the same expectations for all of our players. Until they meet them, we're just going to keep working hard every day."

Q: What can the Northwest fans look forward to this season?

Wright: "They're going to see a great effort. I tell our kids all the time that nobody will play harder than the Rangers. We're going to play as hard as we can. I can't guarantee how many wins that will translate to or what the scores will look like at the end of the games, but we're going to be physical and we're going to play hard."

Q: When you look at your program, what are your short term and long term goals?

Wright: "They're both the same, and that's just to win. We want to win as many games as we can in the short term and we want to win as many as we can in the long term. If you look at what we're doing strategically in the long run, our plan here is to build the type of program where a kid comes for a year or two and then moves on to a Division I program. We want to put some proof in the pudding for the future recruiting classes and be able to show them that if you come to Northwest, this is what we have done. We want them to work hard in the classroom to make sure that we not only develop these guys as athletes, but also to make them into good students and get them on track for their degrees."