What a difference a year makes for Thibodaux High senior football player DaMarcus Mitchell.

Mitchell had to sit out his junior season at Thibodaux due to poor grades, which he said was a wakeup call to think about his future.

“I didn’t think I was going to be able to play football again,” Mitchell said. “I started slacking off in my sophomore year. It just started to make me think about the opportunities I had to become a SEC type player like Greg Robinson, Trovon Reed and other players that came out of Thibodaux High that made it. Once I realized that, I just started taking care of my business.”

A year later, Mitchell has turned his life around as a student and athlete, catching the attention of college coaches. During National Signing Day on Wednesday, he signed a national letter-of-intent to continue his football career at Southwest Mississippi Community College based in Summit, Miss.

Mitchell bounced back in his senior year at Thibodaux, playing multiple positions such as quarterback, running back, receiver, linebacker and defensive back. He helped lead the Tigers (4-7 overall) to a Class 5A playoff berth after a 1-6 start to the season last year. They won their final three games of regular season. He is also a basketball player for Thibodaux.

Mitchell, who received first-team recognition on the All-District 7-5A and The Courier/Daily Comet All-Region teams, said he chose to play at Southwest Mississippi over Trinity Valley Community College in Texas. He said the close relationship he developed with Southwest Mississippi coach Tucker Peavey was the difference maker.

“He treated me like I was already on the team. He’s been there from the start,” Mitchell said. “That’s what I really like about Coach Peavey. He always called and checked about me. We’ve had many great conversations.”

Thibodaux coach Chris Dugas said he was excited to watch Mitchell sign on Wednesday.

“It’s awesome,” Dugas said. “He did a lot of great things for us on both sides of the ball. He's been amazing for us. He’s a type of guy that doesn’t walk through the doors very often. He’s a special player. I’m just glad that I got to coach him for a year.”

Dugas said Southwest Mississippi will give Mitchell a chance to move on to a major four-year program.

“I think he’s going to fit in great,” Dugas said. “Southwest is a big-time SEC pipeline. Hopefully in a few years we’ll see him enroll in at a big-time SEC school.”

Mitchell (6-foot-3, 215-pounds) said he expects to play mostly on offense as a receiver, tight end and possibly quarterback.

“I’m an athlete,” Mitchell said. “I really don’t have a main position. I’ll play wherever they’ll put me at. The coaches said I’ll probably be used as an H-back player that moves around the field. I can’t wait for that.”