Former Pine Forest defensive coordinator Kadetrix Marcus knows talent when he sees it.
A former Division I defensive back at the University of South Carolina, Marcus has already coached the likes of Martin Emerson and Devon Witherspoon, both Eagle alums who are now in the NFL.
Those two played defensive back for Pine Forest together, with Emerson graduating in 2017 followed by Witherspoon in 2018.
Now Mac McWilliams, another Pine Forest alum who was just a year or two behind those now NFL stars, is hoping to hear his name called at the 2025 NFL Draft to make it a “hat trick” for Marcus.
“He didn’t have to watch them, because he was playing right next to them. He didn’t miss a beat,” Marcus said of McWilliams. “The things I put those guys through to help them succeed at a high level, prepared them to be collegiate players. Now, I just stay around them and motivate them – and they all are, or are going to be, professional athletes. They didn’t really watch each other, other than modeling each other’s techniques and coaching each other because they were playing at the same time. That was probably the best secondary I’ve been able to coach, between Martin, Devon and Mac at the same time.”
McWilliams, when he started at Pine Forest as a sophomore, was initially a wide receiver and Wildcat hybrid role. With the Eagles needing some more players in the secondary, former Pine Forest assistant coach Demarcus Blount, who died in 2024, and Marcus pulled McWilliams to the defensive side of the ball.
McWilliams had played defense while growing up. Right away, McWilliams fit in with the guys like Witherspoon and Emerson with his “athleticism and willingness to compete,” Marcus added.
“He just made a great defensive back,” Marcus said.
In two seasons starting at defensive back for Pine Forest, McWilliams recorded 121 tackles…
Source link : https://www.pnj.com/story/sports/nfl/2025/04/24/mac-mcwilliams-looking-to-be-latest-pine-forest-defensive-back-drafted/83206237007/
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Publish date : 2025-04-24 08:31:00
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