Even Barry Lunney had a few losing seasons, the worse perhaps in 1996 when Fort Smith Southside finished 1-9.
Losing nine of 10 games doesn't sit well with any coach, much less one who eventually compiled eight state championships and a .733 career winning percentage.
Lunney sprung into action and totally revamped the Rebels' offense by discarding the Wing-T and introducing his players to a new one-back offense that emphasized the passing game.
It wasn't an easy transition, considering Southside had relied on the Wing-T formation since the early 1980s.
"Dad began toying with the offense toward the end of my sophomore year," said Daniel Lunney, who was the quarterback for his father's teams at Southside from 1996-98. "I think I had more passing yards against (Fort Smith) Northside in our last game than I did in all the other games combined that year. We were excited about trying something different, especially after going 1-9, and we sold out to it the following spring and summer."
Southside began the 1997 season by splitting its first two games, winning 31-13 over Bryant and losing 21-14 at Broken Arrow, Okla. I remember the elder Lunney telling me how pleased he was about the Rebels' effort against the powerful Oklahoma team and that he was sure his team was on the right track.
Boy, were they ever.
Southside lost only more game that season, 14-7 to Springdale, and completed an astonishing worst-to-first turnaround by winning the state championship in Arkansas' largest classification. In the championship game, Southside hammered a Cabot team, 38-10, that still today relies on a Dead-T offensive set.
Daniel Lunney passed for more than 3,500 yards in 1997 and the Southside defense, a staple throughout coach Lunney's career, posted four shutouts while allowing 9.6 points per game.
"Barry was a student of the game and very flexible in his approach," said Jim Rowland, the longtime athletic director of Fort Smith Public Schools. "His teams played a lot of different styles, mostly to fit the type of players he had at that time. He was able to adjust real easily, depending on what the defense was doing."
Instead of scheming for another season this spring, Lunney, 62, announced his retirement after 28 years as a head coach, including the last 10 at Bentonville. He leaves the game as the ninth-winningest football coach (248-90-1) in Arkansas high school history. He'll also step down as assistant athletic director at Bentonville when his contract with the school expires on June 30.
"Dad's been talking about retiring for a while, and I think the timing is perfect to do it now," said Daniel Lunney, who owns a crossfit gym with his wife in Fort Smith. "He's got nine grandkids who are crazy about him, and he's good with them. I'm sure they'll be seeing a lot more of each other."
So, what's next for coach Lunney on the professional level? Nothing's definite, but chances are it'll be a position where he can continue to help mold young people into responsible men and women.
"Barry Lunney's greatest asset is that he is a man of character who leads by example" said Rowland, who was Lunney's quarterback coach at Fort Smith Northside. "He's a great X's and O's coach and one who helped bring in the Spread offense that so many teams use today. But he also held kids accountable and taught them how to do things the right way. That's his legacy as far as I'm concerned."
Rick Fires can be reached by e-mail at rfires@nwadg.com or on Twitter at @NWARick
Sports on 02/01/2015