A little boy comes home from school with tears in his eyes.
He is “huskier than everybody else” at Tommy’s Road Elementary — making him an easy mark for those who take pride in teasing others.
He is “picked on” relentlessly.
“I remember I would come home crying every once in a while,” he said.
But then, Jarrod James hears his father’s voice.
“Dad would say, ‘One day, your size is gonna pay off,’” he said.
Back then, Jarrod had no idea that his father had been inspiring youths to meet adversity head on for nearly his entire adult life — that his mantras and pep talks quite literally changed lives.
At home, he wasn’t the Elvin James who became known around Goldsboro and across the state as “Legend” for his ability to lead winning teams while molding teenagers into men both on and off the football field.
To Jarrod, he was simply an involved, loving dad.
But now that the younger James is the one inspiring the next generation as a member of the Houston Texans coaching staff, it’s impossible to ignore just how much of the elder lives inside his son.
“I want to continue carrying on his legacy just by the way he treated people and the way he poured into players’ lives,” Jarrod said. “Making them the best that they could possibly be on the field and making them the best men and husbands and sons they could be off the field.”
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A fourth-grader realizes that the “cool kids” are playing sports.
So, tired of being bullied, he decides to join them — and signs up for tackle football at the Goldsboro Boys & Girls Club.
“That’s when the football dream started,” Jarrod said. “Things just kind of took off from there.”
It turned out that his father had been right — that one day, being “overweight” would pay off.
“My size really became an advantage for me,” Jarrod said. “From there on.”
And as he grew older and ultimately made the Charles B. Aycock High School varsity team, his participation in a team sport gave him a second family, a group of “brothers” who would do anything for one another on and off the field.
“We had a bunch of really, really good football players, but it went beyond football. We would go to McDonald’s and just hang in the parking lot and recap the game. Saturdays we would go to the movies or go to Empire Fire Mongolian Grill and just eat a bunch of food. We had such a close-knit team that when we got out onto that field together, we played out of our minds,” Jarrod said. “It got to the point where it was, ‘I don’t want to let my brother or my teammate down.’ When you get to that point as an individual where you’re looking at the next man on the field and say, ‘I’m gonna give you everything I got’ … that’s when it became special.”
And that is when he realized that the game was only part of the power of what was unfolding on the gridiron.
“I turned out to be a good player — a really, really good player — but I also fell in love with the team aspect of it. You know, a lot of people today have a lot of differences. I felt like on the football field, my teammates and I, we all had the same color jersey on,” Jarrod said. “We all played for each other. We all loved each other.”
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When Elvin donned headsets and paced sidelines everywhere from Livingstone College to Goldsboro High School, he understood that there was more to life than the game — that the overwhelming majority of his players would never make a living throwing touchdowns or sacking quarterbacks.
So, when he delivered one of his famous locker room speeches or motivational one-liners, he knew his words were preparing “the men” as he called them for life.
And when he would take his son to the Charles B. Aycock High football field on hot summer days to “hit the sleds” and the track, he offered him the same tough love he poured into the hundreds of players who, since Elvin’s death in 2022, have paid tribute to a man they say changed the trajectory of their lives.
“He’d say things like, ‘You’ve got to work extra hard to be good. You’ve got to work even harder to be the best,’” Jarrod said.
They were words that stuck with the younger James as he worked his way to a Division I scholarship from the University of North Carolina.
And when an injury ended his playing career — a herniated disk in his neck that required him to endure spinal fusion surgery — the lessons learned from his father about the importance of education and life being about more than sports gave him comfort.
His life as a player might be over, yes.
But his future could still be a bright one.
It was all about “making a decision” about who he wanted to be.
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An assistant coach gets chills when the thousands of green and white-clad fans packed inside Michigan State University’s Spartan Stadium begin to chant.
“Big Ten football is on a whole different level. Big Ten football is just different,” Jarrod said. “Everything we had there was special.”
Maybe it was because he had never intended on becoming a coach — on walking a path similar to the one that made his father a legend in his hometown and state after a storied career that included stints both on college campuses and then high schools, jobs that saw him named USA Today Weekend Magazine’s “Most Caring Coach in America” and a finalist for the NFL High School Coach of the Year.
Or maybe, game days were a reminder of the fun he had as a member of that Charles B. Aycock varsity team that helped him fall in love with the game.
Either way, Jarrod would come to find that those moments were trumped by the relationships forged with players — by his ability to be a role model and remind them that there is more to life than the game they shared a love for.
“You’d go into the office on a Sunday after a game, whether we win or lose, and you pat them on the back and say, ‘Hey man. I’m proud of you. What’d you get on your math test? How’s your girlfriend doing? How’s your family doing?’” Jarrod said. “That was special. And then, when you see them graduate and cross the stage, I mean, it was amazing.”
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Those who know the James family and those still grieving the loss of Elvin say they take comfort in knowing that the “Legend” is still making an impact on young lives through Jarrod.
And when you get the younger James talking, it’s impossible to ignore that he is his father’s son.
Like when, as the Texans prepare for a playoff tilt with the Cleveland Browns, Jarrod talked about what it’s like to be on an NFL staff — but quickly turned to how he could use his position for the greater good.
“I want to have an impact on people’s lives. My dad, he won on the football field, but he changed people’s lives. That’s the difference. He did both,” Jarrod said. “He instilled in me that it’s more than just about football. Football is great. It’s going to pay the bills. I’m blessed to be in a position where football pays my bills. But if I don’t change people’s lives, it’s a waste. It’s more than just a game. It’s how can I use this influence and this platform that I’ve been blessed with.”
Or when he unwraps how team building can change not only the outcome of a game or the trajectory of a season, but the world.
“As a coach, you’re able to meet with a whole bunch of people you never thought you would cross paths with and then teach them how to work along with other people they would have never crossed paths with to build great teams,” Jarrod said. “Those teams go on to build great communities. Those communities go on to build great cities. Cities build great states. States build great countries. Great countries? They change the world. So, you’re able to do that with people through a game.”
And, perhaps most poignantly, when he reflects on the young people living in the community that raised him — the teenagers his father so often tried to point toward a brighter star.
“Make a decision of who you want to be. Do what you want to do and don’t do what you don’t want to do. You’ve got the world in front of you. You’ve got all the potential in the world to be who you want to be. You might not have the easiest road to get there, but who does? If the road was easy, it wouldn’t be worth it,” Jarrod said. “I guarantee — I know for a fact — that people don’t want to wake up being surrounded by gun violence. People don’t want to get up and sell drugs. People don’t want to live in adverse circumstances. They might feel like they have to, but in all honesty, they don’t. You just have to make a decision that you’re willing to go through the hardships to live the life you want to live. You can do it. Just make the decision. Believe in yourself. Move forward.”
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When the Texans take on the Browns late Saturday afternoon, Jarrod believes his team has an opportunity to begin a postseason journey that could shock the world.
“We know we’ve got a big challenge ahead of us with the Browns. It’s the playoffs. It’s the big tournament. But you know, it sounds surreal coming from where I come from, but we’re all playing to win the Super Bowl,” Jarrod said. “The difference with these guys is that these guys are having fun playing football. Believe it or not, to see a bunch of guys having fun playing football, I don’t want to say it’s rare in the NFL, but it’s special. When guys see it as, ‘I’m not just making a bunch of money,’ it goes beyond the fame. It’s almost back to the college or the high school-like state where you have fun playing the game. And when you see a bunch of guys have fun playing the game and playing hard, man, it’s exciting to be a part of.”
But no matter what happens on the gridiron this weekend, a few things are certain.
The late Elvin James will be there alongside his son as the game unfolds — his spirit encouraging Jarrod to be the best he can be.
“I think about him every day. You know, I used to, when people would talk about a loved one who passed and they would say they think about that person all the time or every day, I used to not understand it. It was being naïve,” Jarrod said. “But man, I think about my dad every day. It’s almost like I hear his voice. Whether it’s, ‘Hey big guy. I’m proud of you and I love you,’ to, when I’m having a down day, it’s, ‘You can’t have no pity parties. You got to get up and keep moving.’ All those sayings that he had, I think about them every day.”
And when the clock expires, that same influence will guide him toward what he believes could be a future many might believe is out of reach — as long as he stays the course.
“I tell myself, half-jokingly but definitely half-serious, that the way I could see things working out for me, my dream world is to become a head coach in the NFL, win a Super Bowl and run for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina,” Jarrod said. “That way I can make a difference on the field and make a difference in the country that I love representing my home state.”
Making a difference both on and off the field.
Sounds familiar — almost legendary.
Like father. Like son.
