Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Determining best in 6A has to wait
In an offseason full of big moves throughout the state, the biggest move might have been in western Arkansas.
The state’s second-largest classification received a huge jolt in February when longtime Greenwood coach Rick Jones stepped down after 16 years at the school.
Jones resigned from his post at Greenwood after 16 seasons to take an administrative position at Missouri. He led the Bulldogs to eight state championships in his career at the Sebastian County school.
Greenwood didn’t have to go far to find a replacement for Jones, promoting Chris Young to head coach in less than a week after Jones resigned in February.
Jones has been at Greenwood since 2000. He was hired as Cabot’s athletic director in April 2019 but returned to Greenwood the next month and is now the Bulldogs’ leader.
Since he was already part of the Bulldogs’ program, Young has been around the players during the offseason.
“Knowing the kids is a huge advantage,” Young said.
Young said he was pleased with the Bulldogs’ progress before the Arkansas Activities Association instituted an athletic dead period in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We were really happy with how our kids responded,” Young said. “There was excitement. The attitudes were great.
“It’s been hard and frustrating.”
Class 6A saw another coaching move with Sylvan Hills hiring former Harding University offensive coordinator and veteran high school coach Chris Hill in March. Hill takes over for Jim Withrow, who is now at Little Rock Hall.
The fit for Hill with the Bears worked for him.
“The more I talked to coach [and Athletic Director Denny] Tipton, we had the same goals,” Hill said. “We know what we want in a program. They’re building great facilities. It’s a good marriage.”
Young said he and Greenwood’s staff will start installing their offense May 1 via Zoom. Also, Young will add more workouts on Facebook, which include agility drills.
However, the most important thing for Young is not football, but the safety and academic status of his players.
“We’re more checking in right now on their grades,” Young said. “It’s more about seeing if they’re doing OK right now.”
Greenwood made several changes on its staff this offseason. Zach Watson, who
was Morrilton’s offensive coordinator and coached 2019
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps offensive player of the year Jacolby Criswell, is now the Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator. Former Little Rock Central assistant coach Austin Moreton, who played at Arkansas State University, is coaching the offensive line.
Despite the pandemic, Young is confident in the position he’s in.
“We’re in a great place and a great situation,” Young said. “I enjoy being in Greenwood, Arkansas. Our administration has gone above and beyond here.”
The AAA’s dead period runs through May 30.
“We’re in the uncertain times right now,” Little Rock Parkview Coach Brad Bolding said. “It will be interesting to see what happens.”
Young is not sure if teams can resume in-person workouts after that date.
“It’s really unknown,” Young said. “We all have our hopes. We miss seeing our kids. But we want them [the AAA] to do the right thing. It’s a lot more important than football.
“We hope they’ll follow the guidelines. June would be the best case scenario, but we just don’t know.”
Bolding said that with the dead period, every team is affected by it.
“Everyone is going to be on the same playing field,” Bolding said. “People aren’t going to take any chances. No one should be necessarily ahead of anybody.”
Young said Class 6A should be competitive once again. The Bulldogs went 10-2 last season, losing to eventual state champion Searcy in the Class 6A semifinals.
Greenwood finished second in the 6A-West behind Benton. The conference adds Parkview and Van Buren for the 2020 season. Van Buren drops down from Class 7A, while Parkview moves up from Class 5A.
“Van Buren has done a tremendous job in recent years,” Young said. “They’ve got some good football players coming back.
“Little Rock Parkview has great talent. Lake Hamilton and Benton are great. From top to bottom, it will be a good conference. It could be as good as anyone in the state.”
Hill said that it is a unique situation to be in right now as a new coach not being able to meet with players personally.
“We’re just waiting for the green light,” Hill said. “I’ve done this for 29 years. I’m hopeful we’ll this will be over sooner rather than later.”
Young said that he and his staff are playing a different role right now.
“It’s a lot more than football,” Young said. “Football has to take a backseat. There is not a book or a manual for covid-19.”