Former Alabama star Tyrone Prothro has a simple coaching philosophy.

"Teach them about the game of football and team them about life in general," Prothro said.

Does that mean Prothro uses his own story -- how a brutal leg injury near the end of a blowout victory over Florida on Oct. 1, 2005 essentially ended his promising career -- as a way to reach the young men he now coaches?

"What better story to use than my own?" he said. "I think I'm at the top of my game my junior year at Alabama and I had put in the work to go to the NFL. I may have been in the Heisman talk or a first-round draft pick. That's what people said about me.

"You might be on top of your game and at any minute it can be take away from you," he continued. "How will you respond to that?"

Prothro recently accepted an assistant coaching job at Jasper, after spending last season as an assistant at Spanish Fort. He will coach receivers and kick returners and anything else first-year coach Bryan Moore assigns him.

Prothro remains one of Alabama's most popular all-time players, thanks to a miraculous touchdown catch behind the back of a Southern Miss player that won the ESPY for Best Play in 2006. He also caught an 87-yard touchdown pass in the opening minute against Florida on Oct. 1, 2005, electrifying the crowd and setting the tone for a 31-3 rout.

But he suffered a compound fracture in his lower left leg in the fourth quarter against Florida and never played again. Prothro has had at least a dozen surgeries on the leg.

He finished his Alabama career with 58 catches for 863 yards and five touchdowns in 26 games at Alabama, while also averaging 26.7 yards on 29 kickoff returns and 10.5 yards on 17 punt returns. His career ended just as his tantalizing potential turned into production, sparking plenty of what-if conversations among college football fans.

As a high school star at Cleburne County, he amassed 8,099 all-purpose yards and 92 touchdowns, including 18 kick-return TDs. He rolled up back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons as a running back and earned First-Team All-State honors in 2001 and 2002.

Prothro talked to AL.com about his coaching move, his playing career and his future this week after Jasper High announced his hiring. Here's excerpts from that conversation:

Q: You coached at Spanish Fort last year. Just remind us about your coaching journey so far

"Spanish Fort was my first full-time coaching gig."

Q: What drew you to this opportunity at Jasper?

"I always wanted to coach and I got the opportunity at Spanish Fort. This past year, I was in Spanish Fort and my wife was still in Tuscaloosa. She never found a job down there. This opportunity with Jasper came up, and I saw an opportunity for my family to get back under the same roof."

Q: Did you already have a relationship with Bryan Moore, Jasper's new coach?

"I knew of him, but I didn't know him. The guy I knew and reached out to me was Jonathan Jordan. He was a manager at Alabama when I was there and, of course, he's the athletic director at Jasper now. He reached out to me to see if I was interested."

Q: What did you learn at Spanish Fort last year?

"Some of the ins and outs of coaching. It was my first official coaching job. I know football, but learning to be a coach and learning how each player has a different personality and how to deal with each player was important."

Q: When you got to Spanish Fort, did the players know about your playing career?

"I think Coach (Ben) Blackmon showed them some video before I got there. That's sort of how he introduced me. Some of those guys were only 2 or 3 years old when I played at Alabama, but a lot of the parents knew me and remember when I was playing at Alabama."

Q: What are your long-term goals? Do you see your future in high school football or might you have aspirations to move to the college game or the NFL?

"I'm sure all coaches have aspirations of moving up. I do want to coach college ball and maybe even in the NFL one day. Right now, I just want to concentrate on coaching the guys and teaching them about the game of football and teaching them about life in general."

Q: You're best known for the behind-the-back catch against Southern Miss and the long TD pass to open the Florida game. Do you ever go back and watch those plays on YouTube?

"Every now and then, I'll go back and see them if I'm showing something to a player. I don't go surfing for it all day every day."

Q: So, how do you feel about the move to Jasper?

"I'm really excited. I want us to win some games."