Midlands coaches reflects how far his ex-players Josh Norman and Mike Tolbert have come

There will be no doubt who David Bennett and Perry Parks will be cheering for in Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Bennett, the River Bluff football coach, and Parks, the Ridge View football coach, will be cheering on the Panthers for good reason. Bennett recruited and coached Panthers players Josh Norman and Mike Tolbert when he was head coach at Coastal Carolina.

Parks was a teammate of Tolbert at Coastal and hosted the Panthers fullback on his recruiting visit. The two remain close and Tolbert hooked up his friend with tickets to four games this season, including the NFC championship game against Arizona.

“I love supporting him and watching him. He is the same guy I went to college with. He hasn’t changed,” Parks said of Tolbert. “I will definitely be in cheerleader mode Sunday.”

Norman, regarded as one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, and Tolbert are the first Coastal players to play in Super Bowl. Neither were highly regarded coming out of high school but have gone on to have Pro Bowl careers.

“Shoot, I wasn’t even a one star. I was a wandering willow, man,” Norman told reporters this week.

The same was true for Tolbert, who played at Douglas County High in Georgia. CCU defensive coordinator Charlie Walker wanted to have play Tolbert play linebacker but Bennett wanted him on offense.

At CCU, Tolbert was the blocking back to 1,000-yard rushers Aundres Perkins and Patrick Hall. But when Chanticleers needed tough yards around the goal line or to close out games, Tolbert was the guy. He scored 21 touchdowns and rushed for 1,670 yards, including a team-high 748 during his senior year.

Scouts flocked to see receiver Jerome Simpson, who has gone on to play in the NFL with the Vikings, Bengals and 49ers. Bennett remembers one Dallas Cowboy scout telling him about Tolbert, “We aren’t interested in a 5-9 fullback.”

The former CCU coach used that as motivation for Tolbert and had a Dallas Cowboy star made up and put in his locker before a game.

“I think he ran for like 240 yards that night,” Bennett said. “Mike is a special guy with a big heart.”

Tolbert, who went undrafted, signed as a free agent with the Chargers and played there four seasons before signing with the Panthers in 2012. He is a free agent and hopes to stay in Charlotte.

The 5-foot-9, 250-pound back known as “The Toldozer” by Panthers has become a fan favorite and is known for his crazy end zone dances, something that goes back to his Coastal days. He won a dance contest at a CCU basketball game and used to record videos with Parks.

“He just loves to dance,” Parks said. “He was always trying out new moves and dances. For a big guy, he knows how to move. He is one of the best dancers I have seen.”

Norman also was a project when he arrived at Coastal, which was his only offer coming out of Greenwood High. He lived with his brother Marrio Norman, who was playing at Coastal, and attended classes at Horry-Georgetown Tech before walking on at CCU.

Norman earned a scholarship after this freshman year.

Bennett said Norman was involved in the theater at Coastal and his antics even played a part in Bennett’s famous “Cat and Dogs” rant, which has nearly two million hits on YouTube. During Bennett’s press conference, he mentioned how some of his players were more concerned about how they looked instead of their performance on the field.

Before one game, Norman went out to warm up in white socks and white shoes. There was one problem. Bennett said he wanted his players in black socks and shoes and the coach isn’t big in highlighting individualism.

“He said ‘Come on coach I want to make a statement,’ ” Bennett said. “You are going to make a statement. But you are going to make statement with black shoes and black socks. He went and changed.”

Norman finished his Coastal career with 13 interceptions and was a three-time Big South Selection and FCS All-American his senior season. Bennett said Norman would pretend to get beat on purpose sometimes just so quarterbacks would throw his way.

Bennett said Norman, quiet off the field, always played with a chip on his shoulder. That remains the case for Norman, in his fourth year with the Panthers. He was involved in a highly publicized incident with New York Giants’ wide receiver Odell Beckham earlier this year.

“His stage now is the football. He knows when to turn it on,” Bennett said. “He is one of the sweetest, big-hearted guys. But he will light up your world on the field.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 3:08 PM with the headline "Midlands coaches reflects how far his ex-players Josh Norman and Mike Tolbert have come."