Jacksonville, Ala. — Ryan Perrilloux was unwanted and uncertain. He was once one of the most sought-after recruits in the country. The next Vince Young, people said.

But talent couldn’t overcome irresponsibility.

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Jacksonville State

Former LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux is attempting to repair his football career at Division I-AA Jacksonville State.

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He was going to be the starting quarterback for the defending national champs.

But LSU, tired of his antics, banished him.

Now, this day in May, he was looking for a home.

He was visiting Jacksonville State, one of about 60 schools offering to give him a second chance.

As Perrilloux was making the rounds he ran into Jim Fuller, the Jacksonville State athletics director. Fuller, an old football coach who played for Bear Bryant at Alabama, was sympathetic but firm.

“Ryan, I wish you well. I hope everything works out and I am really pulling for you,” Fuller told him.

Then Fuller put his right hand on Perrilloux’s left shoulder.

“But this is going to go one of two ways for you. Either I’m going to see you playing on Sundays and Monday nights (in the NFL)…”

Then Fuller put his left hand on the other shoulder…

“Or I’m going to see you in jail.”

“Ryan is not going to be an in-between guy,” Fuller said. “He’s going to bust it wide open and be a tremendous success. Or he’s going to crash and burn.”

Looking down at a plate of wings at Strut’s, an eatery about a nine-iron away from the school’s football offices, Perrilloux could not disagree.

“People are saying this is the kid who had all of the chances in the world and he blew it,” Perrilloux said. “They’re right. I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to be doing. People have this image of me that I’ve created. And it’s up to me to change it.”

That change, said Perrilloux, begins Thursday night at Bobby Dodd Stadium when he will be the starting quarterback in Jacksonville State’s 2008 opener at Georgia Tech. Ironically, Perrilloux is returning to the city where he had his last positive experience as a football player.

On Dec. 1, 2007, everything in the world was still possible — even very probable — for Perrilloux.

He had just been named the Most Valuable Player in the SEC championship game at the Georgia Dome. After waiting in the wings for three seasons behind JaMarcus Russell and Matt Flynn, Perrilloux would be the starting quarterback in 2008.

But Perrilloux didn’t act the part. He continued to miss team meetings and practices. He had been suspended for three various offenses since he had been at LSU and finally head coach Les Miles ran out of patience. Perrilloux’s immense talent was simply no longer worth the uncertainty he created. So Miles let him go.

“He had to protect the program. I understand that now,” said Perrilloux, who said he and Miles are still on good terms. “I wasn’t abiding by the rules of the program and he had to make a decision. He had to be firm.”

Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe needed a quarterback because he had also kicked his starter off the team earlier in the year. He eventually picked up the phone and called Perrilloux, but not before he had talked to a lot of people. He called Miles. He called Perrilloux’s mother, brother, and high school coach. He called Greg Davis, the offensive coordinator at Texas who recruited Perrilloux for the Longhorns. Davis had been the OC when Crowe was the head coach at Arkansas.

“Greg told me that Ryan would charm you out of your shoes and then go and do whatever the heck he wanted to do,” Crowe said. “But the bottom line was this: His problems at LSU weren’t about things illegal. He didn’t fail a drug test. It was about accountability. He just didn’t have it.”

Then Crowe called Perrilloux.

“I told him up front that he was going to be accountable to me and the rest of the players on this team. And he was going to have to be accountable every day,” Crowe said. “If he could do that, we had an opportunity for him because we needed a starting quarterback. But if he wasn’t willing to be held accountable, I told him that he needed to look somewhere else.”

Perrilloux promised that he would adhere to the structure that Crowe had meticulously laid out for him. He asked Crowe about the state of the offensive line (very young). Then he asked Crowe if Jacksonville State could help him remake an image that he knew was badly tarnished.

“It was nobody’s fault but mine but I needed help,” Perrilloux said. “And I wasn’t afraid to ask for it.”

Perrilloux convinced Crowe that taking him was worth the risk. But the decision on whether to accept Perrilloux at Jacksonville State would be made at a much higher level. During his visit to campus Perrilloux also had personal meetings with the athletics director, the campus chief of police, the vice-president for student affairs and finally President William A. Meehan.

“They grilled me,” said Perrilloux. “The way they were asking the questions, it was almost like they already had the answers.”

As it turned out, they did. Crowe had taken his extensive phone interviews and put together a multi-page document outlining every episode that involved Perrilloux during his time at LSU. He distributed the document to school officials before they met with Perrilloux.

“All Ryan had to do was lie once and he was done,” Crowe said.

But Perrilloux told the truth and answered every painful question. When the last of the interviews was done, President Meehan got up from behind his desk and walked over to Perrilloux. Without saying a word, Meehan fastened a Jacksonville State pin to Perrilloux’s lapel.

“That was it,” Crowe said.

Thursday night Perrilloux begins to write the next chapter of his young, star-crossed life. He says he wants to make the best of what is clearly his last chance. He wants to prove that he is worthy of trust. But he knows there will be skeptics.

“If I want a chance to play at the next level, I know I have to get this right,” Perrilloux said. “I can’t afford to mess up again.”

THE RYAN PERRILLOUX FILE

• Born: Jan. 1, 1986.

• Hometown: LaPlace, La.

• High School: East St. John’s.

• Personal: Has three siblings — Rommell, Kadid, and Rance. … Majoring in Sociology. …Was called the “next Vince Young” as a senior in high school. … Picked LSU over Texas.

• Career highlights: Two starts and 17 game appearances at LSU. …Was named the Offensive MVP of the SEC championship game after completing 20 of 30 passes for 243 yards in a 21-14 victory. … In his only other start against Middle Tennessee, Perrilloux completed 20 of 25 passes for 298 yards and three touchdown. … Was suspended for LSU’s game at Alabama on Nov. 3. … In his career, Perrilloux has completed 52 of 79 passes (65.8 percent) for 694 yards and eight touchdowns.