Maurice Moody will try his hand at leading Watson Chapel High School football back to prominence after spending the past two seasons at Jacksonville.
The Watson Chapel School Board approved Moody's hiring during Monday's monthly board meeting. The 43-year-old Earle native takes over for Jared Dutton, who stepped down after eight seasons but remains the district's athletic director. Dutton also was named the Wildcats' baseball coach, replacing Ben Fox.
"Watson Chapel is just a big family-oriented place," Moody said. "I'm a family-oriented guy. I was so impressed with the superintendent, with Dr. [Andrew] Curry, with the high school principal, with the athletic director Jared Dutton. I was impressed with all of them, and I just wanted to be part of something special. Watson Chapel has all the pedigree to do something special. So I just want to put my little 2 cents in and move the program forward."
Curry said the search committee included him, district executive director for support services John Hayden, Principal Henry Webb and Dutton.
"There's no doubt that I believe in him, and I could tell the kids believe in him, and that's what we need to get our program back on track," Curry said.
The Wildcats, who battled through a lack of depth throughout the season, were mired in an 0-9 campaign after dealing with transfers of key skill players and injuries to several players. The program went to AAA state championship games in 1995 and 1996, winning it all in the latter.
Moody has title game experience as well, having led Little Rock McClellan to Class 5A runner-up finishes in 2015 and 2017. McClellan and Fair are predecessors to Little Rock Southwest, which opened in 2020.
Moody said he bases his program on building relationships. He will meet with Watson Chapel players before Christmas and start work at the school in January, Curry said.
"A kid doesn't know how much you care about him until you show him how much you care," Moody said. "I want to build those relationships where my door is open at all times. I couldn't care less about X's and O's at this time. I want to build relationships, so they know who I am as a football coach and person, and we'll talk football after that. As long as you let them know how much you care and you're genuine, they'll run through a brick wall for you."
Watson Chapel will be the fifth program Moody has led. He helmed his alma mater's program for nine seasons, followed by two years at Blytheville, seven at McClellan and two at Jacksonville.
Moody posted a 3-15 record with Jacksonville but is 110-86 in his career. His lone win this season came at Watson Chapel, 36-14, in a 5A-Central Conference game on Oct. 1.
He hopes a run-oriented offense and an odd-numbered defensive front will set the foundation for a turnaround at Watson Chapel.
"We're going to do different things," Moody said. "We'll monitor and adjust to personnel. That's what all good football coaches do. We want to score a lot of points and stop people, blocking and tackling."
Moody was hired four days after the White Hall School Board approved the resignation of Bobby Bolding, who had just led the Bulldogs to the 5A state final.