Vereen taking positive memories from time leading Hot Springs
While Chris Vereen is admittedly “ecstatic and fired up” about his new head coaching job at Star City, he said will have many positive memories to take from his time at Hot Springs.
Vereen said of the most significant memories he will retain will be defeating Little Rock Christian in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs in 2014.
“I did not know this at the time,” he admitted. “We beat Little Rock Christian the first round to go on to the second round and was asked, standing in front of a camera, ‘How does it feel to win the first playoff game in 30 years?’ I had no idea. Just to reach that milestone.”
He also noted the 2015 season will also be special to him.
“The next year, we had some injuries, but we still had another winning season and put back-to-back winning seasons together,” he said. “For a program that has obviously been struggling for a long, long time, just to see the fire in this community and in the town because there’s a lot of people that are now living in Lake Hamilton or Lakeside that still attend ball games when there’s an out of town game because they went to school here. There are a lot of people in Garland County that may not be involved in the school but have ties to it that love Hot Springs Trojan football and want to see it get back to the 70s and the Joe Reese era.”
Despite the positive memories from his time at Hot Springs, Vereen said he has always had a respect for Star City.
“Star City has always been one of those programs that I admired,” he said. “I always wanted to be a part of (it). It was a very, very tough decision leaving Hot Springs. We love the kids here, love the school here. I kind of wanted to get back to one of those schools where the community revolves (around) and loves football.”
Vereen admitted informing the Trojan players coaches of his departure was an emotional experience.
“There were definitely some tears shed, out of coaches and players,” he said. “It was very, very hard. Unfortunately, I had to do the same thing when I left Gillett and De Queen. It is not an easy thing to do. These guys are part of my family. They will always be part of my family just like every kid I ever coached. It’s like losing kids; it really is. Those guys are going to do great things. That relationship will always be there.”
On Wednesday, Vereen also met with the Star City players he will inherit on July 1.
“It was exactly what you want to see out of a football team — glassy-eyed, could have heard
a pin drop the entire 30 minutes we met,” he said. “Those guys were ready to go. It really says something about a group of kids, a program, the coaches that are there in place. Those kids were given less than a 24-hour notice to come meet the new coach. I think we had 40-plus kids there, which I know a lot are on vacation. It’s summer time, school just let out — for those kids to show up on a minute’s notice tells you how they feel about football. They’re excited and ready to go.”
While there has been no official word on whether Vereen will be taking any of his assistants with him to Star City, it is being discussed.
“That is a process that we’re working out as we speak,” he said. “Again, this just became official Tuesday night. Yesterday we met with the team. We’re trying to work that out right now; that is a possibility.”