By Shanika Kelly and Emier Metcalf The Cody Connection
Go to a Comet’s football game and you might see Cody alum Marc Bland on the sideline cheering for the team.
“And when I attend, I get right down on the sidelines; I don’t mess around,” said Bland, who supports Cody on and off the field.
Lately Bland has been working with others fighting to reinstate Cody’s football coaches, who are still suspended after an Oct. 16 incident during a game with King High School. Bland said he feels blessed to have relationships with the Cody coaches who have turned the Cody football team into a winning program.
Bland is the vice president of diversity and inclusions for IHS Automotive, the largest autodata provider in the world. The company provides data consulting and information to auto manufacturers to help them make better marketing decisions.
Bland has hosted Cody students for a mentorship program for the last three years to introduce them to the business world. Groups of juniors and seniors from Cody DIT and Cody MCH spend four Fridays attending workshops that are conducted at the IHS offices so students can experience spending time in a professional environment.
“You don’t know what you can be or what you can achieve if you don’t ever see it, touch it, and feel it,” Bland said.
Bland said he wants students to know that they can do whatever they set their minds to or be whatever they would like to be.
Bland played linebacker for Cody, starting when head coach Calvin Norman was a senior on the team.
“Coach Norman is a spiritual guy who not only talks to the kids about football, but just as much talks to them about life,” Bland said.
Bland said he believes the media coverage following the game with King was inaccurate, portraying Cody as the aggressor and the side that couldn’t control the students, but Bland saw it another way.
“Altercations are going to happen in football,” Bland said. “I mean it’s a violent game, and it’s an all-male testosterone-filled fight. And if they tried to stop every program that ever had a fight, there wouldn’t be a single college football program in existence today, and half of the pros wouldn’t even be playing.”
Bland said key individuals at Cody kept him on a good path when he was in there, and he feels it’s his duty to show his gratitude by helping to have a positive influence for future Cody graduates.
“Because of them,” Bland said, “I’m blessed now to live where I want and be able to take care of my family, so it only seems right to say, ‘Well, here’s what I learned and what I wished someone would’ve taught me.”