JACKSON, Miss. - While other students planned to play college football, Timmy Bailey signed with a different recruiter — Uncle Sam.

Now, after serving a year in Iraq, the 21-year-old private in the U.S. Army National Guard is back home. And remarkably, four years after Bailey graduated from a tiny high school in the rural Mississippi Delta, the soon-to-be sophomore has attracted more attention from college coaches than ever.

“It’s maturity — I’m not your average recruit,” Bailey said. “I can talk better with the coaches on a one-on-one basis, and they love it.”

Bailey is expected to sign a binding national letter-of-intent to play linebacker at Mississippi State on Wednesday, the first day of the national signing period, and finally begin the college football career that for years had been on hold.

“It’s an amazing story, and he’s an amazing kid who’s not a kid anymore — he’s an amazing man,” said Jeff Horn, his coach at Riverside High School in Avon, Miss.

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“He’s got a lot of positives going on in his life. He’s done his time in Iraq, and now is his time to move forward,” he said.

Bailey was a star tight end and linebacker from the nearby town of Glen Allan (pop. 1,118) who was preparing for his senior season in 2001 when he came to a startling decision. Two days after turning 17 — and unbeknownst to his coach — Bailey volunteered for the Army National Guard.

“At the time, coach Horn didn’t know I was going to join, and he really didn’t want me to join,” Bailey said.

Bailey led the team that season with nearly 900 yards receiving, Horn said. But he still couldn’t get the attention of the big-name college recruiters.

“I didn’t get a lot of recognition out of high school. That kind of hurt me,” Bailey said. “But coach Horn always said,‘Keep your head up because you’re going to get there one day.”’

Only Southern Mississippi and in-state schools from divisions I-AA and II offered scholarships, Horn said.

“He was full-speed whether he was blocking, making tackles, catching — he never stopped,” he said.

Bailey, 6-foot-3, 237 pounds, completed basic training in 2002 and enrolled in Mississippi Delta Community College the next year, leading the team in tackles in 2003 and drawing the attention of several Division I-A schools.

But shortly before the start of his sophomore season in August 2004, he learned his unit — the Hernando, Miss.-based Troop A 98th Cavalry — was being activated for duty in Iraq. Bailey reported with his unit to the Guard’s training site south of Hattiesburg, then spent roughly a year in the war-torn country driving trucks.

“Basically, I was in harm’s way,” Bailey said. “It was more IEDs (improvised explosive devices). There weren’t too many crazy people that would shoot you. They liked to blow up people. That made me even more scared.

“You can lose a limb, an arm or leg, at any given moment (but) you can’t think about that. If something happens, you’ve got to use your training and react, and hope for the best.”

He returned safely to his home state on Dec. 28 and found out three Southeastern Conference schools — Mississippi, Mississippi State and Alabama — were recruiting him.

“Most people had their slots already filled, and here I come out of nowhere,” Bailey said.

Bailey picked Mississippi State because he said coach Sylvester Croom offered him a scholarship before his deployment.

He will have four years to exhaust his three remaining seasons of eligibility, and is looking forward to resuming the playing career that at times seemed lost.

“You take it one day at a time (and) you thank God for what you have that day,” Bailey said. “Now I have a chance to do something I love.”