New football coach hired for high school program
Woods Group Architects to work on projects in FCSD
Reggie Swinton has been hired as the new football coach for the Forrest City School District.
Swinton, who currently coaches at Little Rock Mills, told school board members during a special meeting last week that a successful football program is not only about what takes place on the gridiron.
“I believe in helping kids achieve their dreams,” said Swinton. “It’s about winning, but it’s also about the respect factor, having kids pull their pants up, saying yes ma’am, no ma’am, yes sir, no sir.
“I want to meet with all of the teachers of the football players and ask them to have the players seated in the front two rows of their classrooms. If they see them sagging, I want them to let me know. If they see them with hoodies on, let me know. One day a month, during football season, they will have to dress up,” said Swinton. “We have to teach them how to be young men first because football is secondary. They’ll hit the books, become young men and then win football games.
“And, by the way, we’re going to win football games,” continued Swinton. “One thing I do not lack is confidence.”
Donnie Willis, the district’s athletic director, said he supports the hiring of Swinton because he believes he is the right man for the job.
“I think we have gotten the best man we can get for our football team. We need to hire him and support him,” said Willis.
Board member Tarzan Lee told Willis, “We hired you for that job and you presented (Coach Swinton) to us. I trust you to give us a good coach. You have presented this coach here to us, so I trust you.”
Willis said he is excited about Swinton joining the staff.
“I’m excited about a lot of things and one is hiring this young man,” said Willis, adding that Swinton has not only coaching experience but also played five years in the NFL. “He’s been a lot of places, done a lot of things and done it well.
“I’ve been everywhere checking on him and nothing but good things have been said about him. I think he’s the one who can take us where we need to be,” said Willis.
Superintendent Dr. Tiffany Hardrick also noted that Swinton plans to move his family to Forrest City. “He is interested in bringing his family here and committing to our community,” she said. “I don’t know much about football from Xs and Os, but I do know about commitment and he’s someone who wants to become grounded in our community.”
Willis noted that the previous two football coaches had not moved to Forrest City and were commuting to work.
“That’s something we haven’t had in our last couple of coaches. They’ve been driving from a whole other community. They don’t know how we move in Forrest City, work in Forrest City, act in Forrest City. All of these things are very important to be able to know the families and the kids. We want him in our community,” said Willis.
Willis said high school football is an area which needs focus. “These kids are going from junior high where they win but get to senior high and they bust,” said Willis. “That is the area we need to focus on, and I think he is the guy who can get it done.”
In other business, board members heard a presentation from Ron Woods, CEO of Woods Group Architects Inc., of Little Rock.
The district sought RFPs (requests for proposals) for roofing, bathrooms and other projects that need to be completed. Proposals submitted by Woods and ETFC Architects were the only one available for the board to review. Woods was the only representative attending the meeting to discuss his proposal.
Sen. Reginald Murdock, who serves as the district’s project manager, said a third company that submitted a RFP was no longer interested.
The district has worked with Woods on several projects, including the wellness centers on the Stewart and Central campuses and the wellness center currently planned for the junior high school.
“One thing that is very important to us is whoever takes on this project is ready to hit the
ground rolling because we have a lot of projects and we are behind the eight ball on some. We have a situation where some of our buildings are taking on water, etc., so part of the requirement is that you have the capacity and time in your schedule to respond to our needs,” said Murdock.
One roofing project is at the ABC School. Hardrick told board members the district has received state partnership funding for that project.