Recommendation in for LR Central football coach
Frisco (Texas) Heritage offensive coordinator Kent Laster is being recommended as the new Little Rock Central football coach, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette learned Wednesday.
The hiring is pending approval from Arkansas Board of Education Commissioner Johnny Key. Key acts in lieu of the school board in the state-controlled Little Rock School District.
If hired, Laster, 43, will replace Ellis “Scooter” Register, who retired in February after a 43-year coaching career. Register had coached the Tigers since 2010.
Little Rock School District Superintendent Michael Poore told the Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday that he wasn’t sure about when the approval of Laster’s hiring will occur.
Blake Pizan, who had served as North Little Rock’s offensive coordinator, was originally announced as Central’s new coach April 4, but withdrew his application April 12. He said in a school district news release that he was not “fully committed” to coaching the Tigers.
Poore said he did not do another round of interviews. Instead, he went back to the pool of candidates, which was 24 according to a response to a Democrat-Gazette Freedom of Information Act request.
Laster was one of three finalists for the Central position along with Pizan and Casey Dick. Dick, a two-year starting quarterback at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in 2007 and 2008, was hired as Van Buren’s head coach Tuesday after spending two seasons as Bentonville West’s offensive coordinator.
In addition to his high school coaching experience, Laster also has coached on the collegiate level as an assistant with stints at Texas State, Middle Tennessee State and Ouachita Baptist University.
“He was an individual that brought great passion,” Poore said. “He had a wealth of experience at the high school and collegiate levels.”
Laster played defensive back at Texas State from 1994-1997. He was an honorable mention All-Southland Conference selection in 1995, leading the Bobcats with three interceptions.
Laster worked two seasons as a running backs coach at Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, then went to Texas State in 2001 for the first of two coaching stints at his alma mater. He coached one season apiece at Samford and Middle Tennessee State before returning to Texas State in 2005. In 2006, Laster spent one season at Tennessee-Martin.
On the high school level, Laster coached two seasons at Weatherford, Texas. He has been at Frisco Heritage since 2009 and is also the school’s track and field coach.
Central finished 2-8 in 2017 and 1-6 in the 7A-Central Conference. The Tigers have not won a state championship since 2004, and their last playoff victory came in 2013 at Fayetteville.