2 making difference for Zebras
When Michael Williams first heard about the open coaching position at Pine Bluff, he headed straight to social media.
Williams, then an assistant at Wylie (Texas) East High School, took to Twitter and Instagram looking to see what kind of players he would be inheriting were he to apply for the job.
A Pine Bluff graduate himself, Williams wanted to see if the building blocks of a competitive team were in place before applying.
While looking through profiles of players from the 2021 team that finished 2-7, two names stuck out to Williams: Courtney Crutchfield and Austyn Dendy.
With Dendy having missed most of the 2021 football season because of injury, Williams relied on film from the Pine Bluff basketball team to see just what he had in place.
“Those were the first two guys that popped up,” Williams said. “I didn’t realize Austyn was hurt last year, and all that popped up was basketball highlights. But in my mind, I’m like, ‘Ooh, they got some athletes down there.’ As I started looking through their profiles and looking through the old coaches’ profiles, I’m realizing like, ‘We got some monsters down in Pine Bluff.’ ”
Turning around a Pine Bluff program that’s last winning season was in 2017 wasn’t going to be easy, but having players like Crutchfield and Dendy put Williams at ease enough to take the position in June.
“That played a major factor in me coming,” he said. “You say that you want a job, and you’ll take any job, but to be honest with you, you do want to have some chips in place to be able to start with.
“When I did look through the roster, I’m like, man, we do have some athletes. We’re lacking on interior linemen, but at least we have some athletes. We at least can compete. I didn’t know if we could win, but I did know we could compete.”
Williams has the Zebras (4-1, 3-1 5A-Central) off to their best start since that 2017 season. The success is, in part, thanks to the play of the athletes that brought him back to Pine Bluff.
Crutchfield and Dendy, both juniors, play both ways for the Zebras. Both feature at wide receiver on offense, and on defense, Crutchfield plays cornerback and Dendy is a safety. Through five games, Crutchfield has caught 16 passes for 514 yards and 9 touchdowns. Dendy has caught 23 passes for 345 yards and 8 touchdowns. Both have intercepted three passes as defensive backs on the top defense in Class 5A as the Zebras have allowed 14.4 points per game.
Williams said with a football program as rich in tradition as Pine Bluff — a school with 23 state titles — his goal each year is to win No. 24. While that happening in 2022 is yet to be seen, he is optimistic about what the future will hold with Crutchfield and Dendy back for their senior year.
“That’s what excites me more than anything because I know the potential that these kids got,” He said. “’I’m excited because they’re young and they’re going to have a whole ‘nother year next year. And I’m like, even if we don’t do anything this year, I know next year, we are going to bust some heads for sure.”