Perkins back on the sidelines at Mississippi JUCO

By David Brandt

Associated Press

Published: Monday, July 2 2012 12:05 p.m. MDT

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FILE -In this Friday, Jan. 9, 1987 file photo, Miami University quarterback Vinny Testaverde, right, and Alabama University coach Ray Perkins pose for a photo at Toshogu Shrine in Nikko, Japan, a popular sightseeing resort 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of Tokyo., before the Japan Bowl. Perkins led the New York Giants from 1979 to 1982, the Alabama Crimson Tide from 1983 to ’86 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1987 to 1990. Perkins coaches football at tiny Jones County Junior College, in Mississippi.

Itsuo Inouye, File, Associated Press

Summary

Ray Perkins leans back in his chair, enthusiastically talking football in his Mississippi office at tiny Jones County Junior College.

ELLISVILLE, Miss. — Ray Perkins leans back in his chair, enthusiastically talking football in his Mississippi office at tiny Jones County Junior College.

It certainly isn't Giants Stadium and the bright lights of the NFL. But for the 70-year-old Perkins, it's football paradise.

Perkins led the New York Giants from 1979 to 1982, the Alabama Crimson Tide from 1983 to '86 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1987 to 1990. But it's been 20 years since he was a head coach — and more than 10 years since he was a full-time coach of any kind.

And now he has resurfaced at this junior college in a town of about 4,500 people, ready to win some games and hopefully teach a few life lessons along the way.

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