Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Fired up and ready
Hookfin brings enthusiasm to Rogers Heritage
ROGERS — There’s excitement for every high school football team in Arkansas as they begin fall workouts today, but that’s ramped up to another level at Rogers Heritage.
New War Eagles coach Steve Hookfin has been on the job for just a little more than three months, but he’s got the War Eagles chomping at the bit already.
“He’s got everyone fired up for the season,” junior Draegon Blackwell said. “This year we’re all ready to play. If we were to step into the first game tomorrow I think we’d be ready for it.”
Hookfin acknowledged it’s been a whirlwind moving his family from Tennessee to Rogers over the summer. But like his players are getting used to him, he’s also settling into life in
Northwest Arkansas.
“Everything’s starting to settle down a little bit,” said Hookfin, who grew up in Arkadelphia but has coached for the last several years in Tennessee. “They’ve had to learn a new way of doing things, a new thought process. Things are slowing down for them now, which slowing down for them mentally allows them to play faster physically.
“I think they’re buying in. I think we’ve got 98 percent of the kids buying in. They’re kids so you’re gonna have some. But they are doing an amazing job.”
Hookfin will try to change the direction of a football team, which has lost 38 of its last 40 games. He’s done it at
his two previous stops at Haywood County (Tenn.) and Liberty Tech (Tenn.), going 99-50 with seven consecutive playoff appearances — finishing in the state semifinals and as state runner-up his final two seasons at Haywood County.
He said there’s no magic formula to success.
“You gotta work,” Hookfin said. “You want to play with confidence. So how do you get confidence? By working hard. By practicing game speed. Attention to detail, I know everybody says it. Everybody says it, but not everybody does it.
“Things that I know have worked with past teams that I know have led us to success, adopting those same principles and work ethic here. Coaching kids is coaching kids no matter where they’re at. And the great thing is we’re starting a new season. Everything’s new.
Blackwell, who played in the secondary last year but was switched to offense in the spring, said there was a definite change in the program in the spring.
“Seeing him walk in was like ‘there’s gonna be something new happening this season’,” Blackwell said. “He brought an energy. You
felt the change happen the moment he walked in.
“I think it’s definitely followed through. What he said in the beginning, I’ve seen him take steps of getting to where he was talking about in the beginning.”
The former Ohio University standout running back asks for only two things from his players each day.
“I tell them every day if they can bring great effort and a great attitude, me and the rest of the coaching staff will take care of the rest. Because those are two things they control every day.”
“I tell them every day if they can bring great effort and a great attitude, me and the rest of the coaching staff will take care of the rest. Because those are two things they control every day.” — Rogers Heritage coach Steve Hookfin