Matt Skinner didn't know who John Outlaw was when they met in 2008, but the independent film director quickly found out about the Ozark native who coached high school football in Arkansas and Texas.
Outlaw, who died at 58 of a heart attack in 2011, won state championships at Arkadelphia in 1979 and 1987 before moving to Texas, where he led Lufkin to a state title in Texas' largest high school athletic classification at the time (5A) in 2001. He spent 17 years in Lufkin before his death.
"He was the kind of guy who put his arm around me and made me feel welcome," Skinner said during a telephone interview. "He was the most respected guy in the community. When I met him, he was the most humble man in the community."
Skinner has spent the past three years working a documentary about the former Arkadelphia coach. The film, Outlaw: Life, Death and Football -- One Story of High School Football in America, takes a look at the life of Outlaw through the games, events and people he coached and influenced over the course of his career and is targeted for release in 2015, hopefully in time for the high school football season.
The project includes interviews with Charlie Strong, the Batesville native and current coach of the Texas Longhorns, Texas State defensive coordinator John Thompson, longtime Arkansas journalist and broadcaster Rex Nelson and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, who played for Outlaw at Lufkin.
Skinner said the film is nearing its completion, and he has started an online campaign to help raise funds to cover the final post-production expenses and film festival submission fees. Skinner estimates it will take approximately $87,500 to finish the film. He said he has raised approximately $4,170 toward that total.
More information on the fund-raising campaign can be found at indiegogo.com/projects/outlaw-life-death-football-feature-documentary. The online effort will close Oct. 23, Skinner said.
Outlaw was just 26 when he led Arkadelphia to a state championship in 1979 in his first season as the Badgers' head coach. He spent nine seasons at the school, amassing an 84-20-1 record that included a 14-0 season and a second state championship in 1987 in his last season there.
He spent the next seven seasons (1988-1994) at Sherman, Texas, where he was 57-21-1, and then spent 17 seasons (1995-2011) at Lufkin.
Outlaw's career record was 303-87-3.
Skinner, a Texas native whose company is based in Atlanta, met Outlaw in 2008. They remained in contact over the next several years, and Skinner eventually decided shortly before Outlaw died that he wanted to do a documentary on the coach.
Skinner flew to Lufkin in 2012 following Outlaw's death and met with the school's football coach, Todd Quick, a Malvern native, and then-superintendent Roy Knight to ask their permission to film Lufkin's 2012 football season to use in his film. Quick and Knight obliged.
Skinner moved to Lufkin and rented an apartment for a year as he research Outlaw and the influence he had on the program and the community. Skinner also traveled to Arkansas, where he went to Outlaw's hometown of Ozark as well as Conway (he played college football at the University of Central Arkansas), Malvern and Arkadelphia.
Skinner stayed at the house of Outlaw's brother, Steven, while visiting Ozark and learned much about the coach.
"He was tough as nails but was kind," Skinner said. "He would not have had the success [in Texas] if he didn't have it in Arkansas."
Skinner said he hopes the documentary will make an impact on the lives of children, coaches and parents who are involved in high school football, just as Outlaw did.
"He walked in with an air about him that made people believe in themselves far beyond their comprehension," Skinner said. "If I can give a hair, a breath or a vision of that, then we will have succeeded."
Sports on 10/02/2014