High school football coaches on move

There have been some high school coaching changes in football that may have slipped by while you’ve been focused on spring sports in Arkansas. So, let’s review.

I’ll start with Brey Cook for no other reasons than he’s a former Razorback and a player I covered when he was in high school at Springdale Har-Ber. He’s the head coach now at Pea Ridge, promoted one year after joining the Blackhawks as an offensive line coach.

Cook is a big guy, a tough guy, and a perfect fit for Pea Ridge, according to Chris Wood, his former high school football coach at Har-Ber.

“Brey is a magnet for people,” said Wood, the longest-serving head coach in the 7A-West Conference. “He lights up the room when he enters and carries a big presence with him. Servant-leader is what stands out to me about Brey. Big heart for others. He knows the game and does a good job communicating his message and getting buy-in from everyone around him.”

Our sister paper, the Pea Ridge Times, published a photo of coach Cook with a short haircut and a full beard, which I told listeners on our podcast is exactly the way he looked when he intimidated defenders in high school at Springdale Har-Ber. I was joking, sort of.

Cook is the first of Wood’s former players at Har-Ber to become a head coach. There’s likely more to come with former Wildcats Houston Pruitt on staff at Har-Ber and Blake Emerson, another former offensive lineman, coaching at Gravette.

Cook is excited, obviously, about landing his first head coaching job at a Class 5A school with even more growth potential. He replaces Jeff Williams, who left Pea Ridge after one year to become athletic director at Siloam Springs.

“I’m very humbled, honored and excited to become the new head coach,” said Cook, who recently turned 28. “I heard that Pea Ridge has a reputation of being a tough, close-knit community, and if you want to win at football, you have to be tough and close-knit. I saw that at Pea Ridge. A year later, everything I had heard and believed was exemplified.”

While Pea Ridge promoted from within, there were a handful of other coaches from the area on the move for football. Chad Harbison takes over for Mike Loyd at Rogers and J.R. Eldridge replaced Mike Adams at Farmington. Loyd and Adams each retired after long and successful coaching careers.

More recently, Bryan Hutson left Elkins for Berryville, Tyler Clark left Paris to become offensive coordinator at Russellville, where he played high school football, Jeff Weaver takes over at Paris and former Greenwood offensive coordinator Zach Watson was named just last week as the new head coach of the Elkins Elks.

Oh, and how about Spencer Adams, Mike Adams’ son and former offensive coordinator for the Cardinals, who is now the football coach and athletic director at Barton?

Credit Adams for accepting the challenge of trying to restore Barton, which has fallen on hard times in football after winning eight state championships under legendary coach Frank McClellan, whose 367 wins are the most of any high school football coach in Arkansas. Spencer Adams’ move to a small school in the Delta reminded me instantly of Gus Malzahn, who went across the state to Hughes to begin his head coaching career.

So, good luck to Spencer and all of our area football coaches in their new positions. But even the most ardent fans don’t expect any of them to match Chris Young, who replaced Rick Jones and led Greenwood to a state championship in his first year as head coach. Surely not.

Hope not.