Rico McDonald, a Ripley High School Graduate, earned many honors during his senior year including being an all-state running back. He went on to play college football at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS where he helped lead the team to the 2000 NCAA Division II National Championship. McDonald served as an assistant football coach at RHS from 2004 to 2020. During his tenure at Ripley High (2016), McDonald was inducted into the Delta State University Hall of Fame (see link below). McDonald left Ripley for a few years to assist at Lafayette, Amory and New Albany. He returned to Ripley last year (2024-2025) as the Tiger Defensive Coordinator. The fall of 2025 will mark McDonald's first head coaching position. The Tigers will play in a pre-season exhibition game called Tiger Pride Day on May 15, 2025. The Tigers will take on Tippah County neighbors, Falkner High School

Delta State University Hall of Fame

Welcome to HEARD IT ON THE SHARK with your show host Melinda Marsalis and show sponsor, Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area. HEARD IT ON THE SHARK is a weekly interview show that airs every Tuesday at 11 am on the shark 102.3 FM radio station based in Ripley, MS and then is released as a podcast on all the major podcast platforms. You’ll hear interviews with the movers and shakers in north Mississippi who are making things happen. Melinda talks with entrepreneurs, leaders of business, medicine, education, and the people behind all the amazing things happening in north Mississippi. When people ask you how did you know about that, you’ll say, “I HEARD IT ON THE SHARK!” HEARD IT ON THE SHARK is brought to you by the Mississippi Hills National Heritage area. We want you to get out and discover the historic, cultural, natural, scenic and recreational treasures of the Mississippi Hills right in your backyard. And of course we want you to take the shark 102.3 FM along for the ride.

Bounded by I-55 to the west and Highway 14 to the south, the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area, created by the United States Congress in 2009 represents a distinctive cultural landscape shaped by the dynamic intersection of Appalachian and Delta cultures, an intersection which has produced a powerful concentration of national cultural icons from the King of Rock’n’Roll Elvis Presley, First Lady of Country Music Tammy Wynette, blues legend Howlin’ Wolf, Civil Rights icons Ida B. Wells-Barnett and James Meredith, America’s favorite playwright Tennessee Williams, and Nobel-Laureate William Faulkner. The stories of the Mississippi Hills are many and powerful, from music and literature, to Native American and African American heritage, to the Civil War. The Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area supports the local institutions that preserve and share North Mississippi’s rich history. Begin your discovery of the historic, cultural, natural, scenic, and recreational treasures of the Mississippi Hills by visiting the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area online at mississippihills.org.

Musical Credit to: Garry Burnside - Guitar; Buddy Grisham - Guitar; Mike King - Drums/Percussion

All content is copyright 2021 Sun Bear Studio Ripley MS LLC all rights reserved. No portion of this podcast may be rebroadcast or used for any other purpose without express written consent of Sun Bear Studio Ripley MS LLC