Born To Coach: Young ready to put his stamp on Greenwood program

Coaching is, without question, in Chris Young's blood.

Young took the reins this season at Greenwood after Rick Jones left for the Southeastern Conference in the spring, becoming an analyst on Eli Drinkwitz's staff at Missouri.

The 43-year-old rookie head coach has the Bulldogs off to a fantastic 5-0 start in a year that's been anything but ordinary while dealing with the covid-19 pandemic.

He's already been left searching for opponents twice this season because of covid concerns only days before the game was scheduled. But both times Young and Co. were able to able to not only find another opponent but prepare on short notice and get a victory.

The longtime Greenwood assistant coach has two outstanding mentors in Jones and his father, former Fort Smith Northside coach Joe Fred Young, that he can always look to for advice. But not even they have experience dealing with covid-19.

So the situation has coaches communicating with each other more, Young said.

"There's no playbook for covid," Young said. "Everybody's learning something new. I've spent time talking with other coaches. We bounce ideas off each other. We can all learn from each other. Sometimes we learn from others' mistakes, so we don't make the same ones."

"In football, there's evidence or results. But this hasn't happened before. I think it's brought coaches together. We all want the season to happen."

Young thought about a different career path, initially majoring in business at Central Arkansas due to his aptitude in math. His parents, who both coached, even tried to discourage him a bit, Young said. But attending an NCAA Leadership Conference as a member of the UCA soccer team left him no doubt that coaching is what he wanted to do.

"I started with the accounting deal and did well," Young said. "I enjoyed the numbers, being a math guy. But I was miserable. Then I was chosen to this NCAA Leadership Conference and they sent us to Disney World. We had a lot of meetings, and I was around players and coaches. It really showed me where I'm supposed to be.

"I just thought 'Nah, I need to be involved in athletics.'

Ultimately he followed his heart and in his parent's footsteps.

The 1995 Fort Smith Northside graduate acknowledged that wasn't always easy, though. His father cast quite a shadow. Joe Fred led Northside to the finals eight different times, won a state title in 1987 and was named to the Arkansas High School Coaches' Association Hall of Fame.

"I remember I went through a phase in high school and college thinking 'Am I ever gonna be Chris Young and not Joe Fred's son?' Looking back on it, I'm so thankful I'm Joe Fred's son."

He recalls fond memories of being with his father on the sideline or at practice over the years. He also remembers the relationships that his father formed with his players, staff and community. That's one reason it's such a big deal for him.

"I had a great childhood, hanging out in the Northside locker room on the sideline and swinging from the rafters in the equipment room," Young said. "It wasn't just being around the game, but growing up around the coaches. He had a staff that was together for 20 years. That's unheard of.

"There was a lot of time my dad was busy working in the dining room with the door shut. I missed out on some stuff because of that. But the trade-off was way in my favor. The relationships I formed, being around older football players when I was young or riding the team bus. Those are some special memories. That's the reason I decided to do what I do."

He still talks football with his father often. Joe Fred admitted he's not shy about telling his son if he sees something he doesn't like either.

One of the first subjects he broached after Young was named head coach was Greenwood's goal-line offense. Joe Fred coached in a time where it was common for teams to load up with two tight ends and a fullback and power their way to the end zone. Young and the Bulldogs utilize the spread with four and five wide receivers and that doesn't change on the goal-line.

"Back in my day, we're gonna be tougher than you and here we come," Joe Fred said.

But his son just brushed it off.

"He said 'Dad, you're so old-school and just laughed,' Catherine Young, his mother, said.

Catherine is also part of the coaching fraternity as well. She coached volleyball and soccer at Northside. But that's not the only thing she and her son share.

Both are ultimate competitors.

It was especially interesting when Young, who also served as Greenwood's soccer coach for several years, squared off against his mother.

"Those games were fun," Young said. "We had some battles. She's competitive and I'm thankful I learned that from her."

Jones enjoyed a ringside seat for several of those matchups.

"Oh yeah, I sat between them on the sideline," Jones said. "Listening to them, I laughed until my sides hurt."

Jones, who led the Bulldogs to eight state titles in his 16 seasons there, had no doubt the Greenwood program was going to be in capable hands with Young. He's the only one left on staff when Jones came to Greenwood in 2004.

"He's the lone ranger," Jones said. "He lasted the whole time. He's ready. He's past ready, really. I'm just glad it worked out the way it did. I'm happy and excited for him and the Young family."

Young learned plenty from his father, but working with Jones for the last 16 years has taught him plenty, too. But it was tough at times.

"I remember a year early on that we were coming off a great season," Young said. "We had a coaches evaluation and he was very honest about the things I had to do better. He was making me a better coach."

There was another situation when Greenwood had scored on six consecutive possessions, but went three and out on the seventh and punted. But Jones was asking about what went wrong on that seventh possession.

"I was like 'Coach, it's 42-0 and we scored on six straight drives,'" Young said. "But he demanded our best all times. That's probably the most important thing I've gotten from him."

Young turned down offers to leave Greenwood since being hired by Ronnie Peacock in 1999. But Young agreed to take the job as Cabot's athletic director in mid-April 2019. But again his heart led him back to coaching. Young changed his mind less than two weeks later and returned to Greenwood.

"That was an awesome opportunity, it just wasn't for me," Young said. "I remember driving to Cabot and thinking about what we were leaving at Greenwood. I just wanted that relationship with the kids."

But covid-19 has made that component of spending time with his players away from the football field difficult this year.

"That's been the hardest thing with this covid deal, we have a nice home with a swimming pool and we love having kids over to swim, cook out or just hang out," Young said. "We've not been able to do that this year. One of the reasons I coach is the time we get with the kids."

"I want my kids to experience other kids from different backgrounds. I think that benefits them, I think the impact we as coaches have outside of football is big. We can help make them better fathers, husbands, better employees, just better people."

That's a big reason why playing football during this time of a pandemic is well worth it to Young.

"I'm a big believer there's some risk playing in these times," Young said. "But I think it's worth it. There's a reason we have 90 in the locker room and not 22."

He may not have been a head coach, but Young has been on the sideline in 20 state championship games, including 12 as part of the coaching staff at Greenwood. But that's not the biggest thing. He hopes to be able to have somewhere close to the impact Jones and his father have had on his.

"The experience being with those two guys will impact my life forever," Young said. "Coaches impact lives. They impact players' lives and they also impact coaches' lives.

"If one of my assistants says I made them a better football coach and a better man, I"m not worried about the rings. The wins will come."