OZARK — If you want to know how excited people around Ozark are about their new football coach, look no further than the women's football clinic Brooks Coatney held Aug. 8.
Approximately 80 women showed up for the event.
"Actually, I stole the idea," Coatney said. "I think Fayetteville and a couple others do it. I want the community to feel involved because they care so much about football here."
It's hard not to get caught up in Coatney's infectious enthusiasm. At 28, he still has traces of the boyish smile and charm he displayed as an all-state quarterback who helped build Greenwood into a playoff contender in 1996-1998 under former Bulldogs Coach Ronnie Peacock.
Of course, Coatney's popularity will ultimately be decided by his winning percentage and the influence he has on the lives of his players and students at Ozark. The consensus so far, though, is that Coatney is off to a fast start.
"From what I've seen so far, he's got the community fired up," said Eric Capp, Ozark's defensive line coach. "They're really backing us up. The kids are doing a good job buying into the new system. They're excited about the new season.
"I think we can expect to turn things around here."
The Hillbillies won conference titles in 2006 and 2007 under former Coach Michael Johnson, but Johnson left shortly before preseason practice started last summer, and the Hillbillies never recovered.
Brannon Haney took over the program with little time to prepare the team, and the Hillbillies limped to a 1-9 finish. Haney then left after the season to become an assistant at Springdale Har-Ber.
Enter Coatney, who spent the first five years of his career as an assistant at Bryant and Central Arkansas Christian after graduating from Arkansas State in 2004.
He took the job Jan. 19 and immediately went to work installing the Spread offense, but the changes didn't stop there.The school installed a brand new artificial turf field, and the field house was renovated to include an impressive film room.
Still, the biggest changes have come on the field, where the Hillbillies scrapped a runheavy attack for the pass-happy Spread.
"We had to come in and change our philosophy on offense," Coatney said. "It was very run-oriented for the history of the program. I was teaching them how to throw and catch the football.
"It's a lot for kids who have never done it to do it in a new system."
It didn't just stop with the players, either. In addition to the football clinic for women, Coatney arranged a father-son retreat for senior players at Camp Tahkodah in Searcy.
"It's just kind of a bonding time for the kids and their dads," Coatney said.
While Coatney plans to stamp his own signature on the Ozark program, he'll likely start with a framework established by Peacock at Greenwood.
"He's someone I'd give credit to for bringing the modern Spread offense to the state of Arkansas," Coatney said of his former coach. "He's also an extremely good motivator. He was able to get the most out of his players.
"The main thing I take from him is that he really cares about developing his players into responsible young men and teaching them about life through football."
Peacock, who is now the head coach at Class 7A Rogers, said he believes Ozark has found the right coach to get the program turned around.
"Brooks is a dedicated kid," Peacock said. "I think the kids will rally with him. He realizes the importance of winning beyond the scoreboard."
Peacock actually borrowed Coatney from the basketball and baseball teams at Greenwood.
"I wasn't really a football player," Coatney said. "I always just played basketball and baseball.Coach Peacock kind of recruited me. I could throw the ball well because of baseball."
Peacock's plan materialized instantly, with Coatney guiding Greenwood all the way to the state championship game as a sophomore. The Bulldogs fell to Watson Chapel in the 1996 Class AAAA title game, lost in the second round the next year and advanced to the semifinals in Coatney's senior year.
"We had an advantage because the Spread was something new," Coatney said. "There weren't a lot of teams that saw it week in and week out. I also had some really good players around me,like [receivers] Kris Weible and Josh Bell."
Coatney turned down football scholarship offers from Arkansas Tech, Central Arkansas and Louisiana Tech to play baseball at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan. After a year at Johnson County, Coatney transferred to Arkansas State and played his final three years there.
He knew he wanted to coach once he graduated, but it took him a few years to decide which sport.
Coatney's first job was as a junior high assistant at Bryant, but he left that after one year to become the head baseball coach at Central Arkansas Christian. He returned to Bryant a year later and spent the 2006-2008 seasons as the Hornets' offensive coordinator.
The opportunity to coach at Ozark sealed the deal for him.
"High school football was where it was at," he said. "It had the excitement I was looking for. There's nothing like Friday night football. I always maintained an interest there.
"There's that adrenaline you get from being around football, and that's what I wanted."
Apparently, so do the rest of the Hillbillies.
Ozark Hillbillies
COACH Brooks Coatney
LAST SEASON 1-9
OFFENSE Spread
DEFENSE 3-3
RETURNING STARTERS Offense 4, defense
4 POINTS SCORED PER GAME 18.7
POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME 28.0
OFFENSIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH Christian
Coody (5-11, 175, RB, Sr.), Jackson Wimberly
(6-3, 190, WR, Sr.), Kramer Berry (5-11, 210,
C, Sr.), Tyler Yell (6-0, 175, QB, Sr.)
DEFENSIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH Colton
Jackson (6-4, 230, DE, Soph.), Brody
Martinez (5-9, 165, S, Jr.), Ben Brooks (6-0,
175, LB, Sr.), Michael Price (6-2, 275, DT,
Sr.)
KEEP AN EYE ON Christian Coody. A thirdyear
starter at running back with 4.5 speed,
he rushed for close to 600 yards and six
touchdowns last year despite missing four
games with an ankle injury. He returned
during Week 9 against West Fork but
aggravated the injury.
OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK Coatney, who passed
for more than 10,000 yards at Greenwood
in the mid-1990s, brings his extensive
knowledge of the Spread offense to Ozark.
The Hillbillies are unsettled at quarterback,
however, with Yell carrying a slight edge over
juniors Brody Martinez and Kody Rudolph.
The Hillbillies' best weapon on offense is
Coody, who is backed up by Ben Brooks.
DEFENSIVE OUTLOOK Reacting to the
proliferation of the Spread offense in the 4-
4A Conference, the Hillbillies will use a 3-3
defense to strengthen their pass coverage.
The four returning starters on defense include
two players in the secondary, one on the line
and one linebacker.
SEASON OUTLOOK The Hillbillies lost six
games by 10 points or less last year, but
they are still a ways from contending for a
conference title. If they can win a few of the
close ones, a playoff berth might be within
reach.
KEY GAME Sept. 4 vs. Charleston. Ozark
needs to build confidence after a 1-9 season,
and a victory at home over defending Class
3A state champion Charleston would be a
nice place to start.
QUOTING COACH COATNEY "The expectation
is not where it was in the mid-1990s. The
challenge is to get back to that level.">
Sports, Pages 71 on 08/30/2009