Jimmy "Red" Parker ending his run

One of the state's greatest football coaches is stepping aside after the 2015 season.

Jimmy "Red" Parker resigned Wednesday as the head coach of Benton Harmony Grove, effective at the end of the season. Parker, 84, cited health reasons for his decision after spending six seasons at the school located in Haskell.

"I had been unable to perform the noncoaching responsibilities," Parker said. "My health is not letting me do those things. I felt like I didn't carry my load.

"I love coaching, don't get me wrong. I love coaching our kids."

There isn't much Parker hasn't done over the course of his 62-year coaching career on the high school and college levels. Inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1988, Parker is 185-92-5 in 24 high school seasons, which includes a Class A state championship at Rison in 1995, and compiled a 136-127-8 record over 26 seasons as a college head coach.

Health issues have slowed Parker in recent seasons.

Parker has coached since 2010 with a left ventricular assist device to combat congestive heart failure, and he said Wednesday that he's been hospitalized off and on over the past couple of weeks because of heart trouble. He underwent heart surgery in July 2011 to install an implantable mechanical pump that helps move blood from the lower left chamber of the heart to the rest of his body.

Parker said he had been considering stepping down since Benton Harmony Grove's game against Conway Christian on Sept. 11. He said at one point he had planned to step down that week but decided to wait to make a final decision.

Over the next month and a half it became apparent to him that he couldn't physically handle the job anymore.

"I struggle walking. I struggle standing. I struggle doing everything," said Parker, who is 27-33 in his sixth season at Benton Harmony Grove. "To be honest, I'm worn out."

Benton Harmony Grove (5-3, 2-3 5-3A Conference) travels Friday to Episcopal Collegiate in Little Rock. It wraps up the regular season Nov. 5 against Horatio at Jimmy Red Parker Field at Sykes Stadium.

Parker did not coach the Cardinals in last week's game against Prescott as assistants Richard Moore and Dwight Fite handled the coaching duties, but Parker was at practice Wednesday and plans to be on the sideline Friday night.

Moore said the Cardinals still felt Parker's presence even when he wasn't on the sideline.

"Even in the hospital bed, he's going to let us know what he wants to accomplish for the week," Moore said. "He had a hand in what we're doing."

Parker's ability to handle high school players over the years is one of the many things that have stood out to Moore, who has spent six seasons as an assistant to Parker.

"There aren't too many guys at his age who can connect with 15-, 16-, 17-year-olds," Moore said. "That tells you the type of character he has. Our players, they'll tell you how much they love and respect him. That's a special trait."

Fite said it was Parker's impact beyond victories and losses that has stuck with him.

"A lot of people have won a lot of games, but very few have had the impact in sheer intensity in peoples' lives," he said. "He's impacted people who are impacting people who will impact other people. His life has been so significant."

Prescott Coach Tommy Poole was one of those people. He played wide receiver for Parker at Ouachita Baptist (1996-1997) and has coached against Parker since 2012 in the 5-3A Conference.

"He's truly one of the greatest high school football coaches in history," said Poole, whose first loss as a high school coach came to Parker in 1999 when Parker's Bearden team beat Poole's Spring Hill team. "If it wasn't for Coach Parker, I don't know if I would be coaching high school football."

Parker began coaching in 1953 at Fordyce High School, where he led the Redbugs to three consecutive 12-0 seasons in 1958-1960 before leaving to coach at Arkansas-Monticello (1961-1965). After seven seasons at The Citadel (1966-1972), Parker worked as an assistant for one season at Vanderbilt (1972) before serving as the head coach at Clemson (1973-76).

Parker was out of football from 1977 to 1979 as he concentrated on an automobile dealership in Fordyce, but he returned to the coaching ranks in 1980 when he went back to Vanderbilt as an assistant. He became the head coach at Southern Arkansas in 1981 but left after one season to coach at Delta State (1982-1987) before becoming the offensive coordinator at Mississippi in 1988. Parker spent four seasons with the Rebels.

In 1993, Parker returned to Arkansas to coach high school football at Rison, his alma mater. He led Rison to the Class A state championship in 1995 but left the Cleveland County school to take over as head coach at Ouachita Baptist University in 1996. He spent three seasons at OBU (1996-1998) before returning in 1999 to the high school ranks at Bearden, where he spent four years.

Parker was hired by Fordyce for a second stint in 2003, more than 40 years after he left the Dallas County school. He left Fordyce after the 2005 season and took two years off from coaching before returning as the head coach at Woodlawn. He spent one year there before being hired in 2008 by Benton Harmony Grove to help start its football program.

"We got to get into territory that has never been built into," Parker said. "They just never had that opportunity before. At times you wanted to wonder if there was ever going to be a light at the end of the tunnel."

Benton Harmony Grove Athletic Director Ricky Mooney said Wednesday that the school is inviting any former players or assistant coaches off of any of Parker's former teams to honor the during a pregame ceremony that will be held before the team's regular-season finale Nov. 5.

"He was our first coach and only coach," Mooney said. "I've gotten real close to him over the last six years. I hate to see him go, but I understand it."

Parker said he is more proud of the success his players achieved off the field than the success they had on it.

"They got an education," Parker said. "They got a job. They got a family.

"That's what means the most to me, coaching wonderful young men."

Sports on 10/29/2015