It was a night of firsts at the St. Aloysius Touchdown Club meeting on Wednesday night.

It was the club’s first guest speaker and for the guest speaker, it was his first speaking engagement.

New Millsaps football coach Aaron Pelch visited the River City and introduced himself to the capacity crowd.

How he first came to Millsaps is an interesting tale.

Pelch and his family headed east after the staff at New Mexico Highlands University was fired. He arrived in Jackson without a job and got a call a few hours later and he and former coach Mike Dubose conducted a six-hour job interview that resulted in “the three best years of my life.”

Pelch coached linebackers, the defensive line and special teams before he left in 2009 for the Oakland Raiders to be their assistant special teams coach.  Pelch is excited about the future at Millsaps.

“The groundwork he (DuBose) laid for us was where everything comes from,” Pelch said. “I think we’ve got a great, solid core coming back.”

Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com