Third in a series previewing members of the 2014 class who will be inducted Feb. 28 into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame
Don Campbell hasn’t coached a football game in almost a decade, but the game, or more specifically, one play, remains a constant companion.
Campbell, who retired following the 2006 season, still has a personalized license plate: “27 Trap.”
“I was up in Branson one time for a Mel Tillis show when this guy saw my license plate and asked me if I was a trap shooter,” Campbell said. “I told him, ‘Nah, that was my best running play.’ ”
Campbell’s signature play led to 257 career high school coaching victories, 16 conference championships and 2 state championships.
Still a frequent visitor to high school games, particularly in central Arkansas, the colorful Campbell, 73, will be inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame on Feb. 28 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.
“That blows me away,” Campbell said of his selection. “I’m just an old football coach. Didn’t even have a playbook. Good Lord, if those kids hadn’t won all those ballgames, hey, my highlight would have been mayor of Hamlin.”
Campbell was living in Hamlin, a tiny community near Wynne, during his final years of coaching.
Campbell’s lengthy body of work included head coaching stints at Corning (1976-1985) and Sheridan (1986-1990). But his greatest success came at Wynne, where in 15 years he led the Yellowjackets to a 147-46-3 record and Class AAAA state championships in 2001 and 2004.
Campbell was 80-28-2 at Corning and 30-24-1 at Sheridan.
“I was so green when I first started that I wouldn’t burn,” Campbell said. “The thing about coaching is you either learn in about four or five years or you go into administration.”
Campbell learned. Quickly.
A Forrest City native and Henderson State graduate, Campbell retired as the sixth-winningest coach in Arkansas high school history, never shying away from playing larger schools or tougher competition.
“Never dreamed anything like this would happen,” Campbell said. “If I was worried about seeing how many games I would win, I would never schedule Poplar Bluff, Mo., when I was at Corning. When I went to Sheridan, we played North Pulaski and Gurdon. I dropped them and picked up Stuttgart and Benton.
“So you can see, trying to impress people never was my intention.”
Campbell’s teams normally mashed opponents with a devastating rushing attack out of a Diamond-T formation. During a 10-year period (1994-2004), Wynne ran for more than 38,000 yards. Much of the damage came on trap plays.
Campbell used the same offensive scheme throughout his entire coaching career.
“I felt like I could take average kids and win with it because we didn’t have to hold blocks,” Campbell said. “Everything was quick. The worst thing we do in football nowadays is try to outfox somebody. It’s simple things in football that get you.”
Tom Kimbrell, Campbell’s “squatty body” pulling guard at Corning as a senior in 1979, said he can still run trap plays in his sleep. But Kimbrell said the lessons he learned from Campbell off the field were more valuable.
“He’s one of probably three people that made me decide to get into education and help me get where I am today,” said Kimbrell, Arkansas’ education commissioner.
Kimbrell’s son, Kason, was the starting quarterback on Cabot’s 2013 team that reached the Class 7A state championship game. Tom Kimbrell said Campbell “probably” attended eight of Cabot’s games last fall and emailed his son at least once a week.
“Just an inspirational email about concentration, being a man of God, that kind of stuff,” Tom Kimbrell said. “He’s just a great person.”
Ark. Sports Hall of Fame DON CAMPBELL GLANCE AGE 73
HOMETOWN Forrest City HIGH SCHOOL Forrest City (1958) COLLEGE Henderson State (1968)
HIGHLIGHTS Compiled a 257-98-6 career record at Corning, Sheridan and Wynne. … Was 80-28-2 at Corning (1976-1985), 30-24-1 at Sheridan (1986-1990) and 147-46-3 at Wynne (1991-2006).
… Teams won or shared 16 conference championships. … Won Class AAAA state championships at Wynne in 2001 and 2004. … 2001 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Coach of the Year. … Coached halfback DeAngelo Williams, the 2001 Democrat-Gazette Offensive Player of the Year, at Wynne. Williams is the all-time leading rusher for Memphis and the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.
Sports, Pages 17 on 02/20/2014