WYNNE — The Wynne Yellowjackets are ready to begin the Randy Coleman era.
Coleman, the former head coach at Jonesboro and Valley View, was hired to replace Clay Totty, who is now at Hazen.
Coleman said he’s ready to return to the sidelines after several years in administration.
“Not like a pinch me moment, but if you’re a coach or if you’re passionate about something and you’ve been away from it for a little while and then you get back into it, it’s not like you never appreciated it but you appreciate things a little bit more when you’ve been away from it a little while,” Coleman said. “It’s been nice.
“More than anything I think the appreciation comes with how good our staff is and how good our kids are and things like that,” he added. “We have a great group here. I don’t know if that means we win more games than we lose or however you want to say it. I enjoy coming to work every day and enjoy competing with these guys just because of who they are.”
The Jackets are predicted by Hooten’s Arkansas Football to finish fifth in the 5A East in their first season under Coleman.
Coleman said he doesn’t think that means they will be overlooked by their opponents when it’s time for conference play.
“Here’s the deal: They picked us fifth probably because there was a lot of unknowns when they did it, but I don’t think anybody is going to overlook us,” he said. “For one, we saw Paragould and Brookland in team camps this summer. Valley View, there’s some personal ties there and it’s homecoming for them, they’re not going to overlook us.
“Price Holmes at Greene County Tech and coach Steven Hampton at Nettleton, I’ve been around long enough they kind of know what to expect when our team shows up. They’re definitely not going to overlook us,” Coleman added. “And, then Harding Academy, I think Harding Academy is going to be a team that thinks they’re going to compete for a conference championship. That will be a game that’s late in the year so it will have playoff implications on the line, if not conference championship implications. I don’t think there’s one team on the schedule that takes a look at Hooten’s and sees us fifth and thinks this is a game that we should win. I think everybody will know that they’ll have to play well to beat us.”
The Jackets will open the season Friday against Marion at Yellowjacket Stadium.
The Patriots are not a stranger to Coleman, as Marion and Jonesboro are longtime conference opponents.
“Marion, especially at this point of the season being non-conference, they’re going to be the perfect barometer for what we need to work on and what we need to get better at because they’ve got great athletes across the board. They’re very well coached. You’re going to have to execute well and play disciplined, physical football in order to compete in the game,” Coleman said. “Full honesty, I think if we can compete for four quarters whether we win or lose with Marion, then I would say we’ll be in the mix every single game in our conference.”
Kickoff against Marion is set for 7 p.m. Friday. There is a 5:30 p.m. broadcast time on KWYN AM 1400/FM 102.9/FM 106.9 and the EAB Media Group app. The livestream will start about 6:50 p.m.
