This is an opinion piece.

Troy announced this week that it will honor Mobile native and former Trojan Carlton Martial on Nov. 2 when it hosts South Alabama.

No one could be more deserving as a player or a person.

Martial finished his Troy career with 578 tackles, the most in NCAA history. That’s pretty impressive for a player who opted to take a preferred walk-on to Troy out of McGill-Toolen, basically betting on himself to succeed.

He won that bet, by the way.

Martial was a 5-foot-11, 215-pound linebacker as a senior at McGill. Neal Brown, the Troy coach at the time, convinced Martial to take a walk-on spot with the Trojans rather than a college offer from North Alabama (where his brother Philbert played), Alcorn State or any of his other smaller offers.

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When he chose Troy in February of 2017, it was a surprise to most.

But his motivation was clear.

“I always play with a chip on my shoulder,” he said then. “It won’t be any different in college. I’m going to go up there and give it my all. I’m going to prove everyone who didn’t offer me a scholarship wrong. I’m really driven to succeed in anything I to do.”

I vividly remember then McGill coach Caleb Ross telling me that the word out of Troy was that they believed Martial would be on scholarship one day, but they didn’t feel like they could offer a 5-foot-11 linebacker a scholarship as a high school senior because of the optics involved in that.

The Trojans, of course, did put him on scholarship a year later. Seven years later, they are planning “Carlton Martial Day.”

Now, that is what I call winning!

“Carlton Martial’s name is synonymous with Troy Football, and he is beloved by all of Trojan Nation,” Troy Director of Athletics Brent Jones said in a release this week.

Martial will lead the team through Trojan Walk on Nov. 2 and serve as an honorary captain for the coin toss. The first 5,780 fans – representing his career tackles – will receive a commemorative poster of Martial. Additionally, an All-American hamburger will be available at the concessions stands in honor of the three-time All-American.

Current McGill coach David Faulkner coached against Martial when he was at Enterprise High. He called him a “rise-to-the-occasion” type player.

Boy was he right.

Williamson head coach on the DL

For the second straight game, defensive coordinator John Mitchell will fill for Williamson head coach Antonio Coleman as the Lions take on Class 5A No. 1 Gulf Shores tonight.

Mitchell told AL.com this week that Coleman, a former Auburn University star, tore his quad tendon recently and had to have surgery. Mitchell said Coleman twisted his knee when trying to grab something that was falling.

He missed last week’s 14-12 win over Blount, and his return timetable is uncertain.

“He told me it might be a couple of more weeks,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think he can be on the sidelines right now for fear of a player running into him. There has been talk about him coaching from a booth but with us being on the road this week, we didn’t think that would work.”

AL.com has been unable to reach Coleman this week. Mitchell is in his sixth season with the team.

“I’m just holding it in the road for him while he is away,” he said. “Antonio does a good job. He set the foundation here. The rest of us coaches have to pick up on what he has been doing and carry it forth until he can get back.”

Williamson is 3-3 overall and 2-2 in region play. Mitchell’s defense has limited opponents to just 90 total points, but the Lions continue to struggle on offense. They’ve scored just 79 total points this year. That game includes two games in which they scored 2 points (MGM, B.C. Rain) and one (Vigor) when they were shut out.

Tonight’s game is the first of three straight road games for Williamson. The Lions travel to Citronelle on Oct. 13 and Faith Academy on Oct. 20. They are idle on Oct. 27 before hosting UMS-Wright in the regular-season finale on Nov. 2 at Ladd.

Get well soon, AC!

Some huge milestones

Congratulations are in order for a pair of Birmingham-area football coaches.

Mountain Brook’s Chris Yeager won his 150th game at the school last week when the Spartans defeated Class 7A Hoover 34-24.

Yeager is in his 18th year as the head coach at Mountain Brook. His overall record is now 150-62 as a Spartan. His teams have won at least 11 games seven times and been to the playoffs 13 times. Those postseason runs include four quarterfinal trips, three semifinal appearances and last year’s state runner-up finish.

He also spent two years as head coach at West Blocton and two at Walker, bringing his career head coaching record to 175-82. He’s well respected by media members and fellow coaches and should be.

Shades Valley coach Rueben Nelson also falls into those same categories. Nelson won the 125th game in his 18-year career last week when the Mounties defeated Bessemer City 41-40. He’ll try to get No. 126 tonight at Center Point.

Nelson is in his third year at Shades Valley after nine at Ramsay and six at Midfield. He led Ramsay to the Class 6A state title in 2016.

Congrats to a pair of stellar coaches and better individuals.

Thought for the Week

“We live by faith and not by sight.”

Ben Thomas is the high school sportswriter at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected]. He can be heard weekly on “Inside High School Sports” on SportsTalk 99.5 FM in Mobile or on the free IHeart Radio App at 2 p.m. Wednesdays.