2022 HEAD COACHING CHANGES

SCHOOL	NEW COACH	FORMERLY	FORMER COACH	SINCE
Batesville	Ryan Morrow	Batesville assistant	Dave King
Batesville Southside	Kenny Simpson	Batesville Southside assistant	Brian Reardon
Blytheville	Ben Fisher	Blytheville assistant	Lance Stone
Brookland	TBA		Eric Munoz
Camden Fairview	Nick Vaughn	LR Parkview assistant	Jake Mondren
Crossett	Vincent Newton	Crossett assistant	Shawn Jackson
Cutter Morning Star	TBA		Matt Kinsinger
DeQueen	Jarred Fannin	Dierks head coach	Brad Chesshir
Dierks	TBA		Jarrod Fannin
Forrest City	TBA		Teli White
Foreman	Jarrod Jackson	West Memphis assistant	Adrian Ivory
FS Northside	Felix Curry	Northside assistant	Mike Falleur
Hamburg	Blake Johnson	White Hall assistant	Darrick Tucker
Hampton	Chris Morphis	Poyen assistant	Doug Means
Harrisburg	Gunnar Wilbanks	Harrisburg assistant	Aaron Thornton
Harrison	Chris Keylon	Riverview head coach	Joel Wells
Jacksonville	Eric Allen	LR Christian assistant	Maurice Moody
Junction City	David Carpenter	Retired	Brad Smith
Lonoke	Chris Norton	Perryville head coach	Harry Wright
Maumelle	Brian Maupin	Robinson assistant	Kirk Horton
McCrory	TBA		Greg Kennon
Melbourne	Stu Smith	Batesville assistant	Casey Moreland
Mount Ida	Michael White	Mount Ida assistant	Zack Wuichet
Mountainburg	Zach Dean	Mountainburg assistant	Tom Harrell
Mountain Pine	Darrel Scott		Sam Counce
Murfreesboro	Brad Chessir	DeQueen assistant	Marc McRae
Newport	Brian Reardon	Batesville Southside head coach	Mark Hindsley
Palestine-Wheatley	Terry Farmer	Maumelle assistant	Kary Knowlton
Paragould	David Gunn	Private business	Michael Sloas
Perryville	Allan Fairbanks	Bald Knob assistant	Chris Norton
Pine Bluff	TBA		Rod Stinson
Riverview	Steve Williams	Jonesboro assistant	Chris Keylon
Rogers Heritage	Eric Munoz	Brookland head coach	Steve Hookfin
Texarkana	TBA		Barry Norton
Two Rivers	Jonathan Ellis	Two Rivers assistant	Matt Garrett
Van Buren	Mo Henry	Van Buren assistant	Crosby Tuck
Watson Chapel	Maurice Moody	Jacksonville head coach	Jared Dutton
White Hall	Ryan Mallett	Mountain Home assistant	Bobby Bolding

At Pulaski Academy

LUCAS KNOWS TASK AT HAND

June 4, 2021

Anthony Lucas did not hesitate even in the slightest when asked on Friday if he was going to punt.

“No,” Lucas said. “I can’t re-invent the wheel. If it ain’t broke don’t break it. I’m not going to change anything.”

Pulaski Academy participated with six other teams on Friday in Greenwood’s team camp along with Northside, Fayetteville, Russellville, Alma, Bentonville West and host Greenwood.

Lucas, the Louisiana native who left his mark all of the receiving record book for the Arkansas Razorbacks, was elevated to head coach of the Bruins after Kevin Kelley left to take over at Presbyterian College in South Carolina three weeks ago. Friday was the first opportunity for Lucas to coach his Bruins in a competitive atmosphere.

Lucas has been at Pulaski Academy since 2009. Kelley quickly converted Lucas to his way of thinking, which by most standards are nonconventional.

“When I took the job in 2009, people were asking me how I was going to fit in,” Lucas said. “I’d watched them play and just wanted to gp in there and learn as much as I can.”

Kelley never punts and always goes for it on fourth down. He also on-side kicks after most touchdowns as well as goes for two points on most occasions. It’s the never-punt attitude that has garnered most of the attention even nationally and by New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.

“When we were backed up on our 6- or 8-yard line and it was fourth down, I wanted to see what would happen,” Lucas said. “I bought in it to. Coach Kelley did a tremendous job. He converted me.”

Kelley left Pulaski Academy on May 18 and Lucas was elevated to the position just two days later.

“We got a whiff that he was going to the collegiate level, and it was something that he had been wanting to do for a while,” Lucas said. “Coach had always been wanting to coach on the college level. He was just waiting on the right opportunity. Then the right opportunity presented itself for him and his family.”

Coaching on the collegiate level was something that Kelley had also talked about with Lucas.

“It was something we had talked about if we had that opportunity,” Lucas said. “He’s going to be great. God never really opened that door for me. It was never a clear path that God said, ‘Anthony, I need you and your family to move to South Carolina.’ I was weighing it up and down and praying about it. God had something better planned for me and my family, and that was to be the next head coach at Pulaski Academy. It’s a great fit with a great group of kids.”

Lucas of course succeeds one of the most successful head coaches in state history. Kelley was the quickest coach to win 200 games in his high school coaching career in the state, in 230 games, and finished with a 216-29-1 record and nine state championships.

“I’m excited about the opportunity and not thinking about the negativity,” Lucas said. “I love being a positive person. I know Coach Kelley was the Nick Saban of high school football in the state of Arkansas. I do know the task at hand.”

Lucas also inherits a senior class that was his first group to coach in junior high.

“I know these kids and have worked with them,” Lucas said. “That’s what made it more comfortable.”

Former Pulaski Academy quarterback Adam Thrash will be the new offensive coordinator for the Bruins.

Lucas was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2020. Kelley was just recently inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.

“We will be working hand in hand,” Lucas said. “He will be the play caller. Adam and I have been working together for four years.”

Pulaski Academy will scrimmage Bryant on August 17 at Bryant and opens the regular season against Pulaski Robinson on August 27 at Robinson. The Bruins also play nonconference games against Madison-Ridge Academy from Madison, Mississippi, at Pulaski Academy on September 3, travels to Nashville, Tennessee, to play Lipscomb Academy on September 10 and to Argyle, Texas, to play Liberty Christian on October 1 in place of Little Rock Hall, which dropped to 8-man football this season.

2021 HEAD COACHING CHANGES

SCHOOL	NEW COACH	FORMERLY	FORMER COACH	SINCE
Bald Knob	Lonnie Roberson	Bald Knob assistant	Lynn Garner	2019
Barton	Spencer Adams	Farmington assistant	Paul Burkhead	2019
Berryville	Bryan Hutson	Elkins head coach	Doug Shott	2017
Clarendon	Mark Courtney	DeWitt head coach	Dusty Meek	2015
Corning	Farrell Shelton	Kirkwood MO head coach	Larry Treadway	2019
Decatur	Jake Denzer	Hamburg assistant	Grant Hutson	2020
Danville	Kody Hamlin	Elkins Assistant	Drew Smyly	2020
DeWitt	Tommy Cody	Atkins head coach (retired)	Mark Courtney	2015
Dumas	Antonio Lovelady	White Hall assistant	George Shelton	2020
Elkins	Zach Watson	Greenwood assistant	Bryan Hutson	2018
Farmington	J.R. Eldridge	North Little Rock head coach	Mike Adams	2003
Forrest City	Teli White	Melrose TN head coach	Rich Trail	2007
Genoa Central	David Barker		Buddy Ray	2018
Hamburg	Darrick Tucker	Hamburg assistant	Cecil Ray Cossey	2014
Hector	Trevor Cooper	Hector assistant	Scott Poteete	2018
Highland	Clay Wiggins	retired	Adam Carter	2015
Lafayette County	Jason Hathcock	Glen Rose assistant	Bobby Clark	2015
LR Central	George Shelton	Dumas head coach	Kent Lasker	2018
Marion	Lance Clark	Pulaski Academy assistant	Keith Houston	2018
Marshall	TBA		Greg Bigham	2019
Manila	Cain White	Manila assistant	Lorin Morgan	2018
Melbourne	Casey Moreland	Arkadelphia assistant	Kevin McCarn	2013
North Little Rock	Randy Sandefur	North Little Rock assistant	J.R. Eldridge	2020
Paris	Jeff Weaver	Russellville head coach	Tyler Clark	2018
Pea Ridge	Brey Cook	Pea Ridge assistant	Jeff Williams	2020
Pulaski Academy	Anthony Lucas	Pulaski Academy assistant	Kevin Kelley	2003
Riverview	Chris Keylon	Harrison assistant	Daniel Bristo	2019
Rogers	Chad Harbison	Rogers assistant	Mike Loyd	2016
Russellville	Dave Wheeler	Rogers assistant	Jeff Weaver	2017
Searcy	Zak Clark	Springdale head coach	Kenny Simpson	2020
Springdale	Brett Hobbs	Springdale assistant	Zak Clark	2015
Yellville-Summitt	Justin Crain	Melbourne assistant	Lucas Morris	2017

2020 HEAD COACHING CHANGES

SCHOOL	NEW COACH	FORMERLY	FORMER COACH	SINCE
Alma	Rusty Bush	FS Northside assistant	Doug Loughridge	2013
Arkadelphia	Trey Schucker	Searcy assistant	J.R. Eldridge	2011
Atkins	Matt Porter	Atkins assistant	Tommy Cody	2011
Batesville Southside	Brian Reardon	Batesville Southside assistant	Kenny Simpson	2011
Bauxite	Caleb Perry	Hewitt-Trussville AL assistant	Daryl Patton	2016
Booneville	Doc Crowley	Booneville assistant	Scott Hyatt	2007
Brookland	Eric Munoz	Valley View assistant	Chuck Speer	2015
Cross County	Cody Goulart	Sylvan Hills assistant	Tommy Wells	2017
Crossett	Shawn Jackson	Camden County GA assistant	Sonny Nason	2013
Cutter Morning Star	Matt Kinsinger	Lake Hamiton assistant	T.C. Shamel	2011
Danville	Drew Smyly	Wynne assistant	D.J. Crane	2003
Decatur	Grant Hutson	Elkins assistant	James Ortiz	2018
Des Arc	B.J. Paschal	Des Arc assistant	Tyler Paschal	2019
DeQueen	Brad Chesshir	Jonesboro assistant	Stephen Sloan	2017
Dover	William Cox	Heber Springs head coach	Reed Mendoza	2019
Dumas	George Shelton	Warren assistant	Bobby Pennington	2015
England	Josh Anderson		Andrew Roberson	2018
FS Southside	Kim Dameron	Kansas State assistant	Jeff Williams	2005
Gentry	Justin Bigham	Rogers assistant	Paul Ernest	2015
Green Forest	Greg Tibbitt	Rose Bud head coach	Bobby Bishop	2015
Greenwood	Chris Young	Greenwood assistant	Rick Jones	2004
Heber Springs	Todd Wood	Russellville assistant	William Cox	2019
Horatio	Lantz Castleman	Magnolia assistant	Robert Collum	2017
Jacksonville	Maurice Moody	LR McClellan head coach	Jordan Johnston	2019
Lincoln	Reed Mendoza	Dover head coach	Don Harrison	2015
LR Hall	Jim Withrow	Sylvan Hills head coach	Kipchoge VanHoose	2017
LR Southwest	Daryl Patton	Bauxite head coach	n/a	n/a
Magazine	Ryan Chambers	Magazine assistant	Doug Powell	2012
Marianna	TBA		Robert Shelton	2018
Mountain Home	Steve Ary	Harrison junior high coach	Bryan Mattox	2017
North Little Rock	J.R. Eldridge	Arkadelphia head coach	Jamie Mitchell	2015
Osceola	Jamie Carter	Marion assistant	Robert Hooks	2017
Pea Ridge	Jeff Williams	FS Southsid head coach	Stephen Neal	2016
Piggott	Don Simmons	Piggott assistant	Michael Harrell	2014
Prescott	Brian Glass	Prescott assistant	Tommy Poole	2012
Riverview	Daniel Bristo	Riverview assistant	Drake Widener	2019
Rose Bud	TBA		Greg Tibbitt	2019
Salem	Josh Watson	Salem assistant	Clay Wiggins	2016
Searcy	Kenny Simpson	Batesville Southside	Mark Kelley	2015
Sheridan	Larry McBroom	Sheridan assistant	Lance Parker	2017
Smackover	David Osborne	Smackover assistant	Brian Brown	2018
Sylvan Hills	Chris Hill	Harding University assistant	Jim Withrow	2007
Trumann	Randy Phillips	DeWitt assistant	Craig Green	2018
Waldron	Doug Powell	Magazine head coach	Jonathan Bates	2018
West Memphis	Robert Hooks	Osceola head coach	Billy Elmore	2014

2019 HEAD COACHING CHANGES

SCHOOL	NEW COACH	FORMERLY	FORMER COACH	SINCE
Bald Knob	Lynn Garner	Bald Knob athletic director	Randy Johnston	2013
Barton	Paul Burkhead	Barton assistant	Clark McBride	2017
Bearden	Greg Anthony	Bearden assistant	Trey Outlaw	2018
Beebe	Chris Gunter	Alma assistant	John Shannon	2007
Bigelow	Luke Starks		Jeff Starks	2001
Cabot	Scott Reed	El Dorado head coach	Mike Malham	1981
Cedar Ridge	Josh Austin	Bald Knob assistant	Gary Moody	2018
Charleston	Ricky May	Booneville administrator	Greg Kendrick	2013
Corning	Larry Treadway	Walnut Ridge head coach	Joey Moseley	2015
Des Arc	Tyler Paschal	University of Arkansas assistant	Drake Widener	2015
Dover	Reed Mendoza	Lincoln assistant	Greg Smith	2012
El Dorado	Steven Jones	Junction City head coach	Scott Reed	2007
Fayetteville	Casey Dick	Van Buren head coach	Billy Dawson	2017
Fouke	Jerry Littleton		Trent Wilson	2018
Fountain Lake	Kenny Shelton	Fountain Lake assistant	J.D. Plumlee	2017
Foreman	Adrian Ivory	Foreman assistant	Mark King	2016
Gosnell	Lewis Earnest	Wynne assistant	Brandon Barbaree	2016
Gravette	Kelby Bohannon	Gravette assistant	Doug Greenwood	2018
Hackett	Michael Meador	Rison assistant	Lonnie Hester	2014
Hampton	Doug Means	Hope assistant	Wes Ables	2013
Heber Springs	William Cox	Heber Springs assistant	Darren Gowan	2015
Huntsville	Matt Williams	Huntsville assistant	Randy Barnhill	2016
Jacksonville	Jordan Johnston	Riverview assistant	Barry Hickingbotham	2014
Johnson County	Joseph Morse	Marshall head coach	Nick Brill	2018
Junction City	Brad Smith	Junction City assistant	Steven Jones	2016
Lavaca	Mark Headley	Lavaca athletic director	Brian Schlinker	2015
LR Mills	Cortez Lee	White Hall assistant	Patrick Russell	2007
Lonoke	Harry Wright	Bentonville West assistant	Taggart Moore	2017
Magnolia	Mark King	Foreman head coach	John Panter	2013
Malvern	J.D. Plumlee	Fountain Lake head coach	Mike Scarbrough	2013
Mansfield	Tim Cothran	Mansfield assistant	Craig Bentley	2016
Marshall	Greg Bigham		Joseph Morse	2018
Mena	Craig Bentley	Mansfield head coach	Tim Harper	2013
Monticello	Randy Harvey	Monticello assistant	Robbie Coplin	2018
Mount Ida	Zack Wuichet	Mount Ida assistant	Mike White	2005
Parkers Chapel	Elliott Jacobs	Parkers Chapel assistant	Jacob Midyett	2017
Pine Bluff	Rod Stinson	Pine Bluff assistant	Bobby Bolding	2007
Riverview	Drake Widener	Des Arc head coach	Larry Davison	2018
Rogers Heritage	Steve Hookfin	Haywood TN head coach	Tony Travis	2016
Rose Bud	Greg Tibbitt	Mena assistant	Scotty Starkey	2018
Spring Hill	Greg Smith		David Clark	2018
Subiaco Academy	Mike Berry	Subiaco Academy athletic director	Steven Moore	2017
Van Buren	Crosby Tuck	Van Buren assistant	Casey Dick	2018
Walnut Ridge	Jeff Blake	Hoxie assistant	Larry Treadway	2005
Western Yell County	Kody Hamlin	Western Yell County assistant	Chris Morphis	2018
White Hall	Bobby Bolding	Pine Bluff head coach	Mike Vaughn	2003

2018 HEAD COACHING CHANGES

SCHOOL	NEW COACH	FORMERLY	FORMER COACH	SINCE
Baptist Prep	Zach Welchman	Baptist Prep assistant	Morgan Cruce	2016
Bearden	Trey Outlaw	Wynne assistant	Ernie Horstkamp	2011
Camden Harmony Grove	Ernie Horstkamp	Bearden head coach	Tony Chambers	2010
Carlisle	Caleb Shock	Heber Springs assistant	Mark Uhiren	2016
Cave City	Danny Brustrum	Cedar Ridge head coach	Tommy Britt	2017
Cedar Ridge	Gary Moody	Batesville Southside assistant	Danny Brustrum	2012
Conway	Keith Fimple	Springdale Har-Ber assistant	Clint Ashcraft	2009
Dierks	Jarrod Fannin	Dierks assistant	Jonathan Bates	2017
Drew Central	Matt Gonzales	Pulaski Robinson assistant	Rob Cox	2016
Elkins	Bryan Hutson	Paris head coach	Chad Harbison	2016
England	Andrew Roberson	Conway Christian assistant	Matt Garrett	2017
Fouke	Trent Wilson	Fouke assistant	Rick Barker	2013
Genoa Central	Buddy Ray	Simms TX Bowie head coach	Phillip Brinkley	2014
Gravette	Doug Greenwood	Jenks OK assistant	Bill Harrelson	2006
Greene County Tech	Nathan Morgan	Greene County Tech assistant	Don Simmons	2014
Haskell Harmony Grove	Mike Guthrie	Harmony Grove assistant	Paul Calley	2016
Hector	Scott Poteete	Morrilton assistant	Kyle Russell	2016
Hope	Phillip Turner	Ashdown assistant	Jay Turley	2010
Hot Springs	Darrell Burnett	Bryant assistant	Chris Vereen	2010
Johnson County	Nick Brill	Russellville assistant	Jeff Stewart	2010
LR Central	Kent Laster	Frisco TX Heritage assistant	Ellis Register	2010
Manila	Lorin Morgan	Manila assistant	Jerry Castor	2011
Marion	Keith Houston	FW TX Chisholm Trail assistant	Jed Davis	2014
Marshall	Joseph Morse	Danville assistant	Deryk Hibbard	2016
Mayflower	Austin Emerson	Hendrix College assistant	Todd Langrell	2014
Monticello	Robbie Coplin	New Diana TX head coach	Marty Davis	2014
Paris	Tyler Clark	Marion assistant	Bryan Hutson	2017
Perryville	Chris Norton	Rose Bud head coach	Ed Baker	2012
PB Dollarway	Martese Henry	Dollarway assistant	Lee Hardman	2016
Rivercrest	Johnny Fleming	Rivercrest assistant	Kelly Chandler	2006
Rose Bud	Scotty Starkey	Rose Bud assistant	Barry Norton	2017
Siloam Springs	Brandon Craig	Oologah OK head coach	Bryan Ross	2009
Smackover	Brian Brown	Red Oak TX head coach	Mike Baysinger	2017
Spring Hill	David Clark	Spring Hill assistant	Matt McBride	2016
Star City	Chris Vereen	Hot Springs head coach	Jeff Ferneaux	2013
Strong-Huttig	Sirl Wright	Crossett assistant	Greg Anthony	2016
Trumann	Craig Green	Trumann assistant	Scott Waymire	2013
Two Rivers	Matt Garrett	England head coach	Josh Harrison	2016
Van Buren	Casey Dick	Bentonville West asssistant	Greg Werner	2015
Vilonia	Todd Langrell	Mayflower head coach	Ron Young	2016
Waldron	Jonathan Bates	Dierks head coach	Ricky May	2015
West Fork	Justin Smith	Marion assistant	Bob Wise	2017
Western Yell County	Chris Morphis	Lavaca assistant	Mark Lewis	2012

At Monticello

COPLIN 1ST NEW COACH

As a spindly seventh grader, nobody would have predicted a Heisman Trophy in the future of Baker Mayfield.

“If you had seen him as a seventh grader, no, nobody would have ever imagined that,” Robbie Coplin said.

Coplin, a Nashville native, was named the new head coach football coach at Monticello just before Christmas. On average, there will be about 35 head coaching changes among the state’s high school football teams. There were six openings before Christmas this year, and Coplin is the first to fill one.

Coplin was an assistant at Lake Travis High in Austin, Texas, during Mayfield’s entire career there.

“My first year there, Baker was a seventh grader,” Coplin said. “He had that fire, that competitiveness. He wasn’t scared of anybody. He’d take charge and be that leader. If somebody was out of line, he made sure they did right. If they were talking when they weren’t supposed to he’d tell them to shut up.”

Mayfield was the hands-down Heisman winner, leading the Oklahoma Sooners to the national playoff this year.

“He had to grow into what he is now, of course, but he already had all of those intangibles,” Coplin said. “He just finally got the opportunity to use them. I’m really happy with him.”

Mayfield was lightly recruited despite leading Lake Travis to a 25-2 record as a starter his final two years, which included a 16-0 state championship his junior year. He threw for 6,255 yards and 67 touchdowns in his career. Few offers rolled in. He wasn’t a Parade All-American, wasn’t named to the USA Today All-American team, and was only honorable mention All-State by the Associated Press.

“Everybody was saying he was too short, whatever,” Coplin said. “They don’t really measure the heart of a kid and all of the little things that go with it like leadership ability. I think a lot of teams miss out on having a really good football player when they wouldn’t offer him. It all worked out for him.”

Mayfield walked on at Texas Tech and then transferred to Oklahoma being a big fan of the Sooners growing up even in Austin under the huge shadow of the University of Texas.

“It’s not very often you see a OU fan living in Austin, Texas,” Coplin said.

Coplin was at Lake Travis after joining the staff of Chad Morris at Stephenville, Texas. Morris moved to Lake Travis with Morris and remained on there after Morris left.

A lot of what Monticello’s offense will look like will be based on Morris’ Spread theories.

“A lot of it,” Coplin said. “There’s a lot of stuff that we used at Stephenville, and then we added stuff to Lake Travis when we got there.”

While at Lake Travis, he was also an assistant when Garrett Gilbert was the quarterback.

“We incorporated some things that they were already doing there that Garrett was really good at like our sprint-out passing game,” Coplin said. “We’ve added wrinkles here and there that we had already done. It’s morphed, we’ve got passing game stuff from all over the place. We’ve got stuff from Urban Meyer from when we visited with him down there when he was at Florida. It’s a hodge-podge of passing game stuff, but you can get ready for just about anything the defense throws at you coverage-wise.”

Gilbert was the 2008 Gatorade Male Athlete of the Year, was Mr. Texas Football and set the state’s career passing record of 12,534 yards and won consecutive state titles.

The last two years, Coplin has been the head coach at New Diana, Texas. His quarterback, Jackson Sampson, threw for 4,873 yards and 63 touchdowns this past season.

“Before I got here, they were running the veer and running the ball every play,” Coplin said. “It was boring to sit and watch; three yards and a cloud of dust type thing. When we got here, we started slinging it around. We got more kids out playing. We have a good time.”

That was nothing new to Coplin, of course, with his coaching pedigree. It started at Nashville. His senior season, Bill Laird took over as head coach of the Scrappers. Laird, a Louisiana native, had a legendary playing career at Shreveport Woodlawn and then at Louisiana Tech before being drafted by the New England Patriots. After a successful college coaching career, which included the University of Arkansas, he went to Nashville, essentially built the program and was known as Dr. Offense.

“I’ve been around some really good football coaches not just the head coaches but there have been so many assistant coaches that you just pick up on things and their style of coaching and how they relate to kids,” Coplin said. “All of that stuff makes you into your unique style of coach as well. You take bits and pieces to make your own style. I know there are a lot of coaches that are still at Lake Travis, there’s probably six or seven coaches on the staff there that could coach at any college as far as their knowledge of football. I’ve been blessed to be around a lot of really good coaches to learn from. I’ve taken that and applied to my own program. It’s been fun.”

Coplin was literally in on the ground floor of the Passing Revolution in Arkansas at Nashville.

“It had started,” Coplin said. “It was Coach Laird’s base stuff. It was pretty much new stuff.”

Before that, “We were in the I with a tight end and a slot with one wide out so we were running the ball a lot.”

Coplin was a senior, but the next year, Todd Cooley set a single-season state record with 2,375 passing yards.

“That’s what got Todd started,” Coplin said. “We were in the spread but there was a lot of two-back stuff when Coach Laird got here in his first year. There was a lot of 2x1 stuff.”

Now, he hopes to bring that same success to Monticello, and that’s why he took the job as well as getting back to his native land for personal reasons.

“I looked at it and met some of the kids,” Coplin said. “I think it’s a sleeping giant in that area. My parents live in Benton and my wife’s parents live in El Dorado so it’s also closer to family.”

He feels the same excitement even that Morris displayed when he took over as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks in December.

“I’m excited,” Coplin said. “It’s the same thing that Chad said when he got to Arkansas; it’s an exciting offense to watch. The kids have fun running it. The fans like watching it. Just like he said it’s an exciting brand of football. It’s something different that nobody does around there. We’re going to line up and run the next play as fast as we can.”

Coplin, who will officially take over at Monticello the second week of February, also feels the enthusiasm for the Razorback nation, knowing Morris and his background.

“Definitely, it will be worth the price of the ticket,” Coplin said.