By William K. Wolfrum, NFLHS.com

As a starting outside linebacker for the 1989 Super Bowl Cincinnati Bengals, Leon White knows all about hitting. Now, at San Diego High School, he's trying to show prep football players that hitting the books is just as vital as hitting opponents.

As the Play It Smart academic coach for the SDHS football team, White is responsible for making sure players make the grade in the classroom so they can make the plays on the field.

A fifth-round draft pick out of Brigham Young University, White knows that young student-athletes respect what he's done in the past, but will make him prove himself before he can really earn their trust.

"The guys respect that part of your life, but until you show them you will be there every day, they won't respect that," White, 39, said. "They are not used to someone sticking around like that for them."

Sticking around has not been a problem for White, a life-long San Diegan who went to Helix High School.

"I never really left here; in the off-season I would come back," White said. "This has always been my home. It's kind of hard to leave when you go through a winter here."

As for working with high school student-athletes, White said there are many similarities to how a coach will work with a player.

"You use a lot of the same techniques," White said. "I look at it as the same as being a coach on the field, that's the way I go about it.

"In a different way, you're spending time with the guys day in day out but you see them in a different light," he said.

Being a former student-athlete, White said he could understand the pressures kids go through, but the main trick of how to be a good student starts early at home. Part of his job, which is sponsored via the National Football Foundation's Play It Smart Program, is to help the kids that didn't get the early head start.

"There are kids that have struggles with their home life and you try and be there for them as much as possible," White said. "Study habits need to be learned early in life. That carries on in high school and college and later in life."

White, who played for the Bengals and the Rams, had his best season as a professional during Cincinnati's 1989 Super Bowl season, when he recorded two sacks, an interception and returned a fumble for a touchdown.

And while White still cringes at the mention of Joe Montana ("They show that pass to Taylor all the time," he said), he's prepared to take on a new challenge this season as the linebackers coach at SDHS. White said playing linebacker is the same at any level.

"Know your position, know the positions around you, know what they're doing," White said. "Also, conditioning is one of the best things you can do. If possible, train year-around.

"It's not an easy job as coach, especially on the high school level. It will take a lot of patience."

White said he's planning on staying in San Diego, where he and wife of nearly 15 years have a 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter.

"I just enjoy working with kids," White said. "I have two kids of my own, I'm excited about seeing them do great things."

His kids will have a tall order with the pace their father has set. Aside from preparing to work the sidelines and classrooms of SDHS, White also runs a yearly football camp in May for Athletes for Education, as well as running an after-school program for the YMCA for grade-school kids.

"It's called the 6-to-6 program for parents that can't afford to send their kids somewhere after school," White said. " We have activities for kids, and average about 100 kids, kindergarten through fourth grade. I'm looking to see that grow more and more."

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc.