Munoz accepts challenge at Heritage

No one has to tell Eric Munoz the immense challenge he faces as the next football coach at Rogers Heritage.

Heritage has struggled mightily on the field since 2008, when the War Eagles went 3-7 after splitting with Rogers. Heritage has only won three games in the past eight years and the War Eagles finished 0-10 last season under Steve Hoofkin, who resigned last month after four years but will remain with the school in a different capacity.

The last win in conference play for Heritage came in 2017 when the War Eagles beat Van Buren 29-28 in overtime. Since then, Heritage has lost 39 consecutive in league play.

Munoz is aware of all of this and he dismisses concerns from anyone who asks if he knows what he’s getting into.

“That’s the same thing I heard when I took the job at Brookland,” said Munoz, who started at offensive guard on the 2004 Springdale team that was undefeated until losing to Little Rock Central in the Class AAAAA state championship game. “I love the challenge of trying to build something. That’s what being a competitor is all about.”

Brookland, which is located just north of Jonesboro, has only played varsity football for 10 years. The Bearcats were 16-34 in the five years before Munoz took over and he guided Brookland to a 5-5 record last year after going 3-7 his first season at the school. That’s progress, especially for a program that’s bumped up two notches and is now a Class 5A school.

Munoz is confident he can do the same thing at Heritage, where he met with players and coaches last week and made plans for spring practice next month. Laying a foundation in the spring is a huge advantage for an incoming coach, especially one with as much work to do as Heritage.

Besides the challenge of building a program, Munoz wanted the job at Heritage so he and his family could be closer to relatives, including Eric’s mother and father, who still live in Springdale.

“It’s a chance to coach in 7A and come back home and be around family,” Munoz said. “I’ve got two young boys that I would love to be around their grandparents. It’s all about family for me. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

Munoz, 34, won at Springdale and in college at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan., where he helped the Wildcats make the playoffs in 2008. He is part of the growing coaching tree under Gus Malzahn, who coached Munoz at Springdale High before moving onto the college ranks. The list includes Rhett Lashlee, who recently earned his first head coaching job at Southern Methodist, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, and Kodi Burns, who is a wide receivers coach in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints.

“Kodi, he’s my bud,” said Munoz, who worked under Malzahn at Arkansas State and Auburn. “We were GAs (graduate assistants) together at Arkansas State and became good friends. He called me just the other day. I have a lot of respect for those guys and it’s good to have those kind of connections when you might have questions about strategy or doing something schematically on the field.”

Heritage was competitive in a handful of games last season, including a non-conference game against Alma where the War Eagles lost 28-27. So, there is some talent on campus and Munoz plans to be highly visible while searching for athletes who can help the War Eagles succeed at the highest level of high school football in Arkansas.

“I’m going to be at the junior high games and even the kids‘ games on Saturdays,” Munoz said. “I want them to see me and get to know me more than just as the coach they see on the field. It’s about building a relationship and putting a foundation in place. I’m really excited to get started.”