Happy Homecoming: After Nearly Three Decades Leesville Welcomes Cecil Collins Into Its Hall of Fame

by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

For the past 11 years, Cecil Collins has been a productive citizen, the last two living in St. Amant and working as an electrician in the Baton Rouge area.

All of that pales in comparison, though, to the family man Collins has become. With an 18-year marriage to Elena, the couple shares a son, CJ (Cecil Jr.), who has become among Collins’ greatest blessings. He coached his son’s flag football team the past two years where CJ’s a wide receiver and safety and heard some of his father’s prior misgivings.

It was no secret. 

When asked to speak to the league’s entire organization in 2023, Collins spoke from the heart about his 13 ½ years in a Florida prison for burglary, the final nail in a promising football career that lasted a total of eight games for the NFL’s Miami Dolphins in 1999.

“I gave it to them straight,” Collins said. “I let them know who I am, what I’ve been through. Let them know that you’re going to go through some things, but you have to keep Christ first. I speak the truth. I’ve been at the bottom and been poor. I’ve been rich and back down to nothing. I lost everything. Now I’m truly blessed. I’m not rich money wise but I’m good. I don’t want for anything. I have my family, a phenomenal kid. I really enjoy raising him and growing together.”

Collins delved into his bumpy past with members of the flag football community, and especially his son, to try and help pave a better future for all of them.

Cecil Collins Jr. has heard about his father’s exploits at Leesville High School where ‘The Diesel’ ran to glory in the mid-1990s and was regarded among the nation’s most coveted running backs. That was followed by a short stint when he signed with LSU where he was forced to sit out his freshman season because of academics, only to rise to prominence during a four-game stretch of some of the best games in school history.

That path to immortality dissolved in heartbreak when Collins suffered a season-ending broken leg, tested positive three times for marijuana and was eventually kicked off the team after two arrests. After receiving probation, he transferred to McNeese State, which was closer to his home in Leesville, but he never played in a game when he was dismissed from the team following a violation of his probation because of a failed drug screen.

“I got into coaching to not only show these kids the fundamentals of football but teach them life lessons,” Collins said. “It’s been phenomenal. I’ve given my story, even to my kid, to show them the right way. If I had my son when I was 19-20 (years old) there was no way possible I could show him the right things in life. I know it’s God for me to come out of prison and be the man that I am, and then he allowed me to have my son. He told me I was going to have a son, and he wanted me to take care of him.” 

A Relationship With Deep Roots in Trust

Twenty-nine years after dazzling Leesville High football fans, Collins will return to the very field and in front of people who adored him when the Wampus Cats (5-2, 1-1) host Washington-Marion (1-6, 0-2) for homecoming at 7 p.m. Friday.

Beforehand, the school will formally induct Collins and former all-state basketball player Faye Jean West (posthumously), into Leesville High’s Hall of Fame. 

“It’s emotional just thinking about it,” said Collins, the school’s career rushing leader with 7,834 yards. “I’m really honored. I’m blessed because I know it only happened on God’s time. I’m sure it’s going to be really emotional when I get there. It’s going to be great.”

Collins, who turns 48 in November, expects about 15-20 family members to be in attendance.

“I will be in the house,” said Sedric Clemons, a former teammate of Collins and current principal of Leesville Junior High. “If I could, I’d put him on my shoulders. He’s had quite a life, championed through the worst, and come out on top. He’s the man that he should have always been. That’s what we should be celebrating. To be that we could possibly be and that’s what he’s doing. I’m tickled to death that he’s finally getting his flowers.”

Ray Ortiz, president of the Leesville High Alumni Association, touted Collins’ status as a person with staying power in the community. 

“He’s a legend in this area with regard to his athleticism,” he said once Collins received the requisite votes from the school’s 12-member Hall of Fame committee.

Collins’ introduction on Friday will come from a familiar face and voice that once served as his head coach and is now a family friend.

Danny Smith, the athletic director and defensive backs coach at Parkview Baptist, endured an approximate 15-year hiatus in communication with Collins once he left LSU. 

They reconnected after Collins called in 2013 to say that he had been released from prison and the two, who were together for some of Leesville’s greatest moments on a football field, will be together again when the spotlight once again finds Collins on his grand day.

“I valued as a coach building the relationship,” Smith said. “His father (James Collins) was in his life but lived in Houston and his mom (Beverly Collins) was in Leesville. He’s got a unique personality, and it was one of those things where it was an instant connection. Over those four years, I didn’t sugarcoat things. People have asked what was so special. I can’t pinpoint one particular thing. The Bible says you plant the seed, and you may not see it come to fruition until later. That’s how this relationship was. Not just a coach-player but a relationship of trust that he had in me as a coach.”

Collins recalled the formative days when Smith picked him up every morning to go to school his senior year. He remembered receiving plenty of life lessons that have since served him well.

“He was a guy when I was younger, he treated me like his son,” Collins said. “A lot of people didn’t know that my parents had gotten a divorce. For him to put me under his wing and treat me like his son really stuck out to me. It wasn’t just on the football field but outside of football. I listened back then but didn’t hone in and lock it in. Now, I see all of those things he told me and showed me and how things played out in life.

“That’s the true blessing of it. Even when I was on his team, he didn’t treat me partially,” Collins said. “Every coach has his guy, and I was his guy. But he didn’t treat me differently in front of the team. We built a father-son relationship. He’s had a great influence on my life. His family, his (two) daughters were like my sisters. They’ve been part of my life forever and for it to come around like a full circle is the phenomenal part. We live about 11 minutes away, go to church together. He’s been a blessing in my life, and he always had God first in his life.”

The Making of a Star

Collins was born in Ft. Knox, Kentucky, the product of a military family where James Collins served in the Army. Once his parents divorced, Collins and his mother moved to Leesville when he was in the fifth grade. 

Collins and Clemons, who later signed with Tulane and was part of the team’s 12-0 team in 1998, became teammates at Leesville’s junior high team with Clemons a fullback leading the way for Collins to run wild.

“I wanted to get the ball a little more but when you have an all-world talent back there, scoring five touchdowns a game, I started enjoying blocking more,” said Clemons, who shifted to linebacker at Leesville High in 1994. “But I saw him since the eighth grade just become a monster.”

Smith, the school’s defensive coordinator, had become Leesville’s head coach in 1991 and already had a grasp of the growing reputation Collins had in junior high. When he joined the varsity in ’92 as a freshman, Leesville and Westlake scrimmaged where Smith and his counterpart, Max Caldarera, watched from the end zone as their freshman competed. 

Collins took a toss play for a lengthy gain when Caldarera asked Smith who the player was.

“I said that’s Cecil Collins, the kid’s going to be special,” Smith said. “Max got to see him four years in a row in our scrimmages.”

Collins was an observer for much of his freshman season until an injury opened the door for a start in a game against Southwood. He put together 590 yards on 123 carries and three touchdowns.

With an increased role in the team’s offense, he improved his statistics to 246 attempts for 1,758 yards – 7.1 yards per carry – and 21 touchdowns. 

Off the field, though, the program was in transition.

The Wampus Cats moved from Class 5A to 4A when Smith said he lost 84 players over a two-year period when their families, who were part of the Fifth Infantry, were moved from Ft. Polk to Ft. Hood in Texas.

Approximately 40% of Leesville’s teams are from military families where the base in Ft. Polk is 10 miles east of Leesville High in Vernon Parish.

Leesville went 8-4 and lost in the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs. Collins’ production improved to 269 carries for 2,441 yards for a career-best 9.1 yards per carry average – and 29 touchdowns. He made the first of his two appearances on the first team Class 4A All-State team.

That set the stage for a memorable season in ’95 for both Collins and the Wampus Cats.

“Our freshman year, we had come together and that was always the goal,” Clemons said. “We always talked about facing John Curtis in the dome our senior year. It was a dream come true. It wasn’t the outcome that we wanted, but it was always the goal that we worked for, and we achieved that goal.”

Leesville High’s stadium was filled to capacity when the Wampus Cats were in town. The opportunity to see the team with one of the state’s budding superstars required early arrivals for thrill-a-moment performances which left fans gasping by the game’s end. 

“There was no Leesville,” Clemons said. “It was a ghost town. Nothing was open. Everybody was at the football game. They came to see Cecil. They came to see The Diesel. They came to see Leesville football win. Nothing brought the town together more, no matter what sport or event it was, than Leesville football on a Friday night. It was electrifying. That’s one of the reasons I came back, for that atmosphere and the fans.”

Memorable Senior Year, Finding a New Home

Leesville was loaded and featured Collins, one of the nation’s premier running backs with a rare combination of speed and raw power, who was built for a deep run into the postseason.

No team had ever won more games in school history than the ’95 club which went 13-2 and reached the Class 4a state finals against Salmen. 

Despite a 39-7 defeat, the Wampus Cats had garnered plenty of attention with Collins leading the way with five of the best performances of his career. He wound up with school records in carries (396), yards (3,045), and TDs (40) and earned a second straight appearance on the Class 4A All-State team, along with being the state’s Offensive MVP and Mr. Football recipient.

It was the first of a four-year run for a team from competitive District 4-4A to have a team in a state final.

“We’re at Carroll in the second round of the playoffs,” Smith said. “We were up 30-28 in the fourth quarter with less than two minutes. We’ve got the ball on our 40 or 45 and it’s fourth-and-two. We called timeout and were thinking about going for it. I got the team together and told Cecil we needed two (yards) and he said, ‘Coach I’ll get you four and then some’. That’s all I needed to hear. We got the first down and ran out the clock to go to the next round.”

Clemons said that the sight of Collins’ second and third effort runs in a game or practice was a driving force for that team.

“As a defensive guy you take a lot of pride in what you do, a lot of pride in tackling,” he said. “I’m watching him shake and bake, but the number of tackles that he broke … I’ve never seen a running back do that at any level. It created an electricity throughout the stands. He would run over somebody and keep going. They would try to dogpile him, and he would move the pile for an extra 5-10 yards and that just made you want to play harder.”

Collins concluded his career with 1,033 carries and 7,834 yards (7.7 yards per carry) to rank No. 6 in Louisiana history, although current Leesville senior Xavier Ford’s closing with 6,974 yards and needs 860 yards to break his school record. Collins’ senior year remains the third-best in state history.

“Those times were phenomenal,” Collins said. “I had a great time. Not just football, but I ran track and was on the powerlifting team. All of the friends and brotherhoods I made growing up in Leesville. It was good. I’ve still got friends there. When I’ve been back, I’ve seen a lot of people I went to school with and played ball with. The memories are phenomenal and there are no bad memories.”

There was a notable moment near the fence at the stadium while watching the school’s soccer team that remains indelible in Smith’s mind. It came from the parent of a football player who speculated about the locals’ appreciation of Collins’ massive talent. 

“He asked if I thought people would appreciate what they watched for the last four years,” Smith said. “It was just the norm, something you expected. He was Cecil the Diesel.

“That (1995) team was special,” Smith said. “Defensively we were salty. We had Sedric Clemons and Greg Rome (Southern Arkansas signee). But when you get the nickname ‘The Diesel’, every Friday it’s a highlight. I was so used to seeing it, it was nothing new. It was my job to give us an opportunity to be successful.”

What was expected to be a fierce recruiting process boiled down to a three-team race between LSU, Illinois, and Baylor – the three schools he made official visits to.

Illinois was discarded after Collins experienced the Chicago-area school’s cold fall temperatures, leaving LSU and Baylor to battle for his services. 

The Tigers had just hired Gerry DiNardo the year before and the staff’s priority was trying to keep the best players at home, which produced the signing of Kevin Faulk of Carencro. 

Once DiNardo finally got his hands on a VHS highlight tape produced by Smith, the Tigers’ attention turned toward making Collins the centerpiece of their ’96 recruiting class. 

“I know their job is a business, but my job is to help these players and promote them,” Smith said. “I did my job. Coach D. (DiNardo) finds the tape I sent and puts it in. He came out of his office and said he needed everybody in his office right now. He said we can’t let guys like these kids get out of the state and that it (allowing Collins to sign elsewhere) would get them fired before they started.

“The one school (running backs) Coach (Mike) Haywood had outside of the Golden Triangle (Beaumont area) was Leesville,” Smith said. “They developed a relationship through the recruiting process. They became closer and closer. Cecil liked Baylor but then flew to Baton Rouge and called me during the visit and I asked how it was going. He said he was going to be a Tiger, and he signs.”

The Highs and Lows of a Career Gone Too Soon

Because he was not a full academic qualifier Collins was sidelined during his freshman season at LSU but was allowed to practice.

Smith encountered LSU assistant coach Hal Hunter at a basketball game at Crowley High where Hunter was watching Jay Domengeaux (an eventual signee) when their conversation drifted to Collins and his well-being.

“They were in practice one day and ran an iso (isolation) play and Cecil hits it, makes a move, and makes the linebacker miss,” Smith recalled Hunter saying. “He runs through a defensive back and Gerry gets mad. He said do it again. Everyone knows what play’s about to be run. This time, he didn’t juke the linebacker, he drops his pads and runs through him. He gets into secondary. He was competitive every day and that was his Saturday. Players were like, ‘Cecil stop trying to show us up.’ Cecil goes, ‘If you could tackle me, you could tackle anybody in the SEC’. That’s him.” 

Faulk, who went on to an All-America career at LSU and remains the school’s leading rusher, was in awe of Collins’ ability.

“He’s the best back I have ever seen in person,” he said during Collins’ redshirt season.

Collins missed the first game of his sophomore season for violation of a team rule. He later found himself in more of a prominent role when Faulk was injured, bursting onto the scene with three of the school’s best rushing performances that reverberated throughout the program.

He had 20 carries and 179 yards against Akron, and 22 attempts for 172 yards against Mississippi State, but it was his 27-carry, 232-yard, 2-TD masterpiece in a loss to Auburn – the 13th-best single-game effort in school effort – that catapulted him onto a national scale when ‘The Diesel’ became a household name.

The following game, though, is when it all came crashing down. During a road contest at Vanderbilt, Collins went down in a heap of players on a run to the left and had to help from the field.

He had suffered a season-ending broken leg.

Collins finished the season with 72 carries for 596 yards and 3 TDs which turned out to be his career numbers in purple and gold once he was later dismissed from the program.

After receiving probation for his previous two arrests, Collins transferred to McNeese State with plenty of red flags when a failed drug test, a violation of his probation, resulted in his departure from the team.

Even after he had become head coach at DeRidder, Smith remained a conduit between Collins and the national media. He conducted sit-down interviews with ESPN and Sports Illustrated, and later hosted officials from the Miami Dolphins who expressed an interest in possibly taking the dynamic Collins in the later rounds of the 1999 NFL Draft. 

Miami indeed selected Collins in the fifth round with the 134th overall selection for coach Hall of Fame Coach Jimmy Johnson. 

Despite the injury at LSU and the lack of competition at McNeese, Collins never looked like a player who hadn’t played a competitive game in two years. After signing a three-year contract, he started in six of eight games, with 131 carries for 414 yards and two TDs. 

Collins also caught six passes for 32 yards before he was suspended indefinitely and released for his arrest on burglary charges on Dec. 16, 1999, in an apartment complex in Davie, Fla.

He served 13 ½ years of a 15-year sentence and was released. 

“I struggled for years,” Collins said. “I leaned on Christ. I opened up my door and let Him in. That’s when things started getting right. I found my life.”

The emergence of Elena in his life, the result of her appearance at the Broward County Jail to visit another inmate, was a turning point in Collins’ life.

“That’s how God is. He knew I needed her,” said Collins, who met Elena in 2001 and the two have been together for 23 years. “I needed helped and she was a God-fearing woman. She kept me humble. She kept me straight and helped me put God first and become the man I am. I love her with everything I have.”

Reconnecting with a Part of his Past

Collins said that while his decade-long stay in prison took away part of his life, he was appreciative of the time of reflection. 

“It may have saved my life,” Collins, noting his ‘Diesel’ persona made him feel entitled to do whatever he wanted without caution. “I believe if was left out there (society) with the same mindset, I’d be dead or in total shambles. It made me grow and showed me how to be a man to live and walk in this life.

“The most important thing was learning to forgive myself,” Collins said. “I felt like I let a lot of people down – my parents, my kids (two daughters Zakeia and Zakayla), my community, my school. I was a breadwinner for my family and had a chance to be generational and take care of my family forever. That was a struggle for me for a long time.”

During a trip to the Florida Keys for his 25th wedding anniversary Smith crossed paths again with Collins. Without previously mentioning the trip to Collins, the Smiths flew into Ft. Lauderdale and called Collins and Elena who drove to pick up the Smiths for dinner in Miami followed by a trip to the beach.

“When he left LSU that was pretty much the last connection we had,” Smith said. “He went to Miami and things happened there. That was pretty much it until he got out of prison, and we reconnected. That was my first connection with her (Elena) when they were living in Florida.”

Collins moved to Houston, where his parents live individually, to become an electrician and slowly started piecing his life back together outside of the spotlight’s intense glare. His family also included a nine-year-old dog named Diesel, a Louisiana Catahoula Leopard, he picked up already named from the local Humane Society.

“He came right to my son the first time,” Collins said. “We get a dog named Diesel. How does that happen?”

The healing process continued with a couple of trips back to Leesville where both of his daughters graduated. 

Because of the size of the industry and ability to command a salary to care for his family, Collins wanted to move to the Baton Rouge area which his former teammate, quarterback Herb Tyler, helped broker with his connections at MAPP Construction. With Tyler serving as his boss, Collins felt comfortable with the continuation of rebuilding his life instead of being judged for his previous misdeeds.

Collins moved to St. Amant in Ascension Parish in Dec. of 2022 where he remains the ultimate family man.

“I’m proud of the man I am,” Collins said. “If it wasn’t for Christ, I wouldn’t be here. I thank God for putting me in a situation where I could get myself right and be the man that he wanted me to be. That’s what it all boils down to and that’s where I am. I live through the spirit. With everything that I’ve been through, I’ve been battle-tested and God has been there for me the whole time. I could have died numerous times where I was in prison or out. I’m still here and I’m healthy with no issues.”

LSU threw its arms around Collins at last year’s home game with Auburn. He was invited to the game, receiving adulation from still adoring fans once he stepped foot on campus until the time he went into Tiger Stadium for the first time in 26 years.

It was as if he never left with a chorus of “Diesel, Diesel” following his every move.

“I can go over there anytime I want to,” Collins said of LSU. “They take care of me when I go to football games. Being in the Baton Rouge area, everywhere I go, someone knows me. The main thing is they say how happy and proud they are because of the man I have become. … a God-fearing man. They’ve seen my story and how much my life has changed. It’s very humbling.”

Going Back to the Scene of Some Memorable Nights

The thought of ever entering his high school’s hall of fame never entered Collins’ mind. He said he wasn’t aware of such an honor until Clemons mentioned he was on the ballot.

Clemons was also quick to say that with Leesville’s rich athletic history, Collins’ entry into the school’s hall of fame is more of a result of being included in a competitive company.

“The competition was stiff,” Clemons said. “Getting in was tough. You’re always going to people who will be doubting Thomas. People that don’t want to leave your past in the past. We all have one. It just hasn’t always come to light. He’s where he is because of the grace of the God. What a testimony for anyone.

“I think it will be 100% absolutely nothing but positivity,” Clemons said. “Like the prodigal son has returned home. Cecil is a family man now. He’s a God-fearing man now. He’s doing quite well. Outside of his football accolades, he’s a fantastic person. That’s all Leesville will focus on and that’s what homecoming is all about. About people coming home and feeling welcomed and loved and respected.”

Collins said the environment of playing games at Leesville’s stadium nearly three decades ago doesn’t have the clarity today that he would like to have. That’s partly the result of the amount of focus he played with.

Bleachers were brought in for ‘big’ games to accommodate overflow crowds, especially during Collins’ final two years when the Wampus Cats made their march to New Orleans and the Superdome.

“He didn’t just have a great career, he had THE career because everybody that’s come after him will be compared to him,” Clemons said of Collins. “Even if Xavier (Ford) breaks the record, every running back or great player will still be compared to him. His name will always be in the conversation.”

Because of their proximity to one another these days it’s customary for Collins to attend Smith’s games at Parkview Baptist which he’ll miss Friday to be with Collins. Their families also attend the same church and spend time together during holidays.

A relationship that began 32 years ago, was rekindled after a 13-year hiatus and burns brightly when coach and player are united once again by football this week.

Hall of Fame events begin Friday at 9:30 a.m. with a pep rally at the school where Smith will introduce Collins to a student body assembly. That will be followed at noon with an alumni lunch at First Baptist Church, a parade at 3 before a standing-room-only crowd honors him during a pregame ceremony at 6:45.

Just like they did in the glory days.

“The reconnection has been special and unique,” Smith said. “It’s about our families. My girls looked at him at the brother they never had. Rekindling that relationship and seeing where he was to where he is now as a man it’s pretty awesome.

Collins confided in Smith’s wife Missy that he wanted to take his relationship with his former coach to another level. Missy felt such a revelation should come from Collins and urged her husband to contact him.

When Smith called to ask about his intentions, Collins said he wanted to reward the honesty and trust the coach always showed in their long-time association.

Collins wanted to call Smith ‘Pops’ and Smith, with a lump-in-the-throat moment, gladly agreed.

“He’s not my biological father but he’s my pops,” Collins said. “I’m the son he never had. I have a great dad. But for Danny, he’s just a phenomenal guy. He’s always been positive and straightforward with me. He didn’t sugarcoat it. That’s one of the things I love about him because, in that regard, he’s a lot like me. 

“I’m going to shoot you straight,” Collins said. “We’re going to listen to what you have to say and tell you what we think. Those two things – honesty and trust – formed our relationship That’s how we got to this point.”