This is the sixth feature of a series leading into fall camp focusing on the new Panther football coaching staff. Coming Tuesday: Luke Huard.

As he prepares to coach his first season at Georgia State in the Panthers' inaugural campaign in the Football Bowl Subdivision and the Sun Belt Conference, Tony Tiller already knows a thing or two about firsts.

“I was the first quarterback in Stephenson High School history,” said the GSU running backs coach and graduate of the Atlanta-area prep powerhouse.

“Stephenson has had a lot of guys go on to play in college and in the NFL, first- and second-round draft choices, but I'm remembered because I was the first quarterback. That's what separates me because the first is like no other. It just so happened that I was going into ninth grade when the school opened in 1996, and I started at quarterback as a ninth grader.”

Coming full circle from his days as a Stephenson Jaguar, Tiller is back in his hometown and recruiting the same halls that he once walked as a student. In between, his football journey took him to Johnson City, Tenn., then west to Kansas City, and north to Canada, before he returned home to the ATL.

“I'm fortunate to be back home again,” Tiller said with a smile on his face, happy that he and his wife, Tiffany, can raise Bryson, 7, Brea, 6, and Dakota, 2, in Atlanta.

After graduating from Stephenson, Tiller went on to an all-conference career as a defensive back at East Tennessee State. He spent time with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2004 and 2005 before moving to the Canadian Football League, where he played for the British Columbia Lions, Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Fittingly, his pro career concluded in Atlanta with a brief stint with the Falcons in 2009.

In addition to his high school coach, Ron Gartrell, who is still the head man at Stephenson, Tiller says that his most significant mentor has been Steve Wilks, now the secondary coach and pass defense coordinator for NFL's Carolina Panthers.

“He was my secondary coach my junior year at East Tennessee State,” Tiller said. “I had three different secondary coaches in college, but he had the most influence on me. He taught me about life. He gave me a lot of fatherly advice and a lot of walking-around sense. I still talk to him frequently."

After his stint at East Tennessee State, Wilks coached at Notre Dame and Washington on the same staffs as Georgia State head coach Trent Miles, and it was Wilks who recommended Tiller to Miles.

In his short time on the GSU staff, Tiller has already earned a reputation as a strong recruiter.

“I enjoy every bit of recruiting,” Tiller said. “Recruiting is relationships. That's a cliché, but it really is the truth. Understanding the dynamics of somebody's background and being able to relate to them. You listen to them, get to know them, get a feel for who they are.”

During his playing days, Tiller stood out as someone who would make a good coach.

“I was told I needed to coach well before I thought I wanted to,” he said. “The whole time I played in college and professionally, people were constantly telling me, 'You're going to be a coach, you need to be a coach.'

“Looking back, it was because I was able to analyze things as a player, and I was able to lead. Being able to reach a room and have people follow you is a big part of coaching. But of course, if they're going to follow, you better be leading the right way.”

Still, Tiller didn't immediately jump into coaching.

“I stepped away from football for a while,” he said. “After I finished playing, I went into real estate, just to see if there was something else that I liked doing. That lasted about a year-and-a-half.”

But one lesson from real estate still rings true for Tiller as he coaches and recruits in his hometown: Location, location, location.