Jesse Cloyce Darnell is the son of Earl and Etrulia Darnell of Boaz. He has a twin brother, Floyce, and an older brother, Wendell, who captained the 1957 Boaz Pirate football team. The three brothers all played on the first organized baseball teams in Boaz, started by Boaz High School Coach James "Bear" Gunnin in 1954. In 1957, Wendell's senior year, Cloyce quit the Pirate band to become the Boaz Pirate football team's "manager and ball-boy" at age 12. He cleaned the locker room and cleats, did laundry, managed the record player, and chased footballs.
Cloyce played quarterback with the junior varsity or "B" team in one game in 9th grade but had never played or practiced with the varsity until he was called on to fill the varsity QB role due to an illness of the starting varsity QB. A few plays into the game, Cloyce turned the wrong way, and an opposing lineman took the hand-off and scored a TD. This was an inauspicious debut for the future SEC player. He went on the become the Pirates' starting QB as a junior for Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame coach Billy Hudson, but had a knee injury and the team went 0-10. Cloyce had knee surgery following the season, but that did not deter him from playing football as a senior.
Cloyce's senior year brought much better results. He was Coach Hudson's starting QB and defensive safety, leading the 1962 Pirates to a 7-2-1 record. In beating Guntersville 37-13 for the first time in 20 years, Cloyce threw for two TDs, ran for another, and was chosen as the Birmingham Post-Herald's Back of the Week for his performance. His twin brother, Floyce Darnell, was the starting right tackle for the Pirates. Cloyce was chosen co-captain, along with teammate Jerry Kilpatrick, was named All-County, and was mentioned on several All-State teams. He was also an outstanding basketball player and was named to the All-County basketball team. Cloyce not only showed his prowess in athletics, but was also outstanding in the classroom. Among many awards, he was president of the Beta, Science, and B-Clubs; selected for Boys State, and won the Danforth "I Dare You" award. Cloyce ascribes his football success and Vanderbilt scholarship to his father and Coach Hudson, who sent a game tape to the coaches at Vanderbilt, but when it was returned thought it had not even been opened. After graduation, a Vandy coach phoned and asked Cloyce to visit Nashville. He did so and was offered a football scholarship on the spot, becoming the first Southeastern Conference football signee in Boaz High School history.
Cloyce played freshman football in 1963 and three years as a varsity defensive back for the Commodores, the NCAA maximum at that time. The 6-1, 190 pound DB was selected as the Most Improved Player in 1965 and became the starting safety as a junior and senior. During that time, he had the unique experience of defending against three Alabama All-American quarterbacks: Joe Namath, Steve Sloan, and Kenny Stabler. Following his senior season at Vandy, the Boaz City Council and the Civic Clubs of Boaz combined to declare Saturday, March 11, 1967, as "Cloyce Darnell Day" in Boaz. The community sponsored a parade and a banquet in honor of their hometown hero. At the banquet, Commodore Head Coach Bill Pace declared that he would bring a bus and carry back all of the Cloyce Darnells that Boaz could produce.
While at Vandy, Cloyce also earned a degree in Civil Engineering. Following his graduation in 1967, Cloyce worked for Chevron USA for 4 years and then moved to Florida and entered the road construction and engineering business in 1971. He won the top national award for road work in 2000 and retired from that career in 2001 to start a consulting business that continues today. Cloyce married Sharilyn in 1969, and they had two children, a daughter, Mary Catherine Cotton, and a son, David, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident in January, 2011. He and Sharilyn also have four grandchildren. Cloyce has also been very active in his community. He, Sharilyn, and Mary Catherine were instrumental in establishing "The Children's Neighborhood" in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, to provide emergency shelter and foster homes for abused, neglected, and abandoned children, and also its "Transition House" for foster-graduate teenagers entering society on their own. An instrument-rated pilot, Cloyce also provides and pilots his airplane to transport sick children to and from cancer treatment facilities.