The calendar is rapidly moving toward August and the start of pre-season football camp for the 2023 Greenwood Bulldogs. In fact, football practice begins on Monday, July 31st this year with the first day of school two weeks later on August 14th. The annual FASDOGS drills are currently underway in the mornings at Smith-Robinson Stadium and will end next Thursday the 27th. Greenwood’s first game is set for Friday, August 25th, at home against Stillwater, Oklahoma.
The ‘Dogs played at Stillwater last season and lost, 41-27. But the Pioneers finished unbeaten (14-0) and claimed the 6A state title in Oklahoma. Greenwood also reached the 6A title game in Arkansas but lost to Pulaski Academy. According to Head Coach Chris Young, entering his fourth season as the team’s Top Dog, his players are primed and ready to make yet another strong run at the state title. The Greenwood Dog Pound talked with Young recently about the coming season and several other issues, including his recent promotion to Athletic Director.
New title and responsibilities
This past spring former AD Dustin Smith accepted a similar position with the Broken Arrow School District, the largest in Oklahoma. A native of the Sooner State, Dr. Smith went back home after seven stellar years in Greenwood. But instead of hiring an outsider as the new AD, the district offered the position to Coach Young with the stipulation that he be assisted by three additional current staff members, assistant high school principal and former football coach Chase Meyers, and coaches Brandon Brewer and Tyler Woods. Brewer is the school’s head baseball coach while Woods leads the boys golf and soccer programs.
A former assistant principal at the high school, Young will add many of the AD’s administrative duties to his current football responsibilities with Meyers and Woods serving as event coordinators and Brewer handling the tech side of the athletics department such as live streaming games. It will be a cooperative effort to keep one of the state’s best prep athletic programs running smoothly.
Collectively, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs own over 50 state titles, most of them earned in the last 20 years. This past school year the girls’ varsity basketball program won its seventh state title and second straight under legendary Head Coach Clay Reeves, who now has 10 state championships to his name. The football program has also won 10 state titles, the last one in 2020 in Coach Young’s first season at the helm, although he has been on campus for all 10 championships dating back to the first one in 2000 under Head Coach Ronnie Peacock. Rick Jones succeeded Peacock and won eight titles.
“We knew that for me to do both [jobs] there was going to have to be some help,” said the new Greenwood AD. “Visiting with Mr. Ceisla [Superintendent] and Mr. Hesslin [Asst. Superintendent] we knew we needed some other people with a background in athletics. Coach Woods has a specialist degree in sports management, I believe. Coach Brewer had experience working with the athletic department in Owasso, OK, and has a background in technology. They will be huge assets to our athletic department, and Chase Meyers has done an outstanding job as an assistant football coach in the past, but now as an assistant principal. We’re excited about all three of those guys. We consider [them] as assistant athletic directors.
“They are going to help manage the events, especially during the fall,” he continued. “I’ve got an outstanding staff in football and they are highly capable of covering for me when I have to be away. Kim Hobbs is our athletic secretary, and she does an outstanding job as well. We feel like we have great teams in both locations that will give us the ability to be successful in both [jobs]. It was just something that made sense and we’re excited about the opportunity.”
Asked what the promotion means to him personally and to his career, Young said, “It means that I will be involved in all the sports programs here at Greenwood and get a chance to impact all the coaches and athletes in the other sports. I’ve always been a big fan of our other sports and tried to be seen at their games and support the other coaches.”
Though it remained unsaid by Young, who is in his mid-40s, this promotion also likely means he will finish his coaching and administrative career right here at Greenwood, barring some unseen circumstance, and that’s probably okay in the eyes of most GHS athletes, their parents and Bulldogs’ fan of every sport. The son of a legendary football coach, Joe Fred Young of Fort Smith Northside, our Coach Young now has a chance to create a legendary career of his own in Greenwood.
Spring football
The annual Blue-White spring football game was held on May 25th with over 90 players on the spring roster, an astonishing 31 of them seniors. The school has also set a record for seventh graders, according to Coach Young, with more than 80 boys entering the program for the first time. “Our numbers, grades 7-12 are as big as they’ve ever been. We’ve had 81 seventh graders come out, which is a record. We had 72 last year, which was the record. So two years in a row we’ve had more seventh graders come out than we’ve ever had, which is a great problem to have. We’ve run out of helmets, shoulder pads, and lockers, so we had to order some more. In the ninth grade I think we’ve got about 50 kids and in high school we’ve got 95, but we’re blessed with 31 seniors. I think we had 11 last year. We’ve got great senior leadership.”
Heading into spring practice the Bulldogs were looking to shore up the offensive line, despite having three starters back and several others who saw varsity playing time last year, and Young was pleased with the results. “We felt like we needed to get more physical up front to be able to run the football,” he said, “and I think we did that.” Besides varsity linemen already on the roster, the Bulldogs also received an infusion of several new sophomore linemen with a lot of size and promise.
“We’re also really excited about our senior running back Brayedan Davis. He has a combination of strength, speed, and physicality. What we saw from him in the spring got us pumped up. We also had great quarterback play, not only from Kane [Archer] but Cooper Goodwin. We’re excited about both those [sophomores]. Both are capable of getting the ball to our playmakers, our wide receivers, and we’re returning as much yardage-wise and catch-wise as we ever have,” continued Young.
As for the much-publicized Kane Archer, the sophomore just recently turned 15 years old and got a lot of playing time last season, including the incredible fourth quarter comeback against Fort Smith Northside in week two. He continues to mature physically and mentally as he takes over for departed senior QB Hunter Houston.
“He looks great for a high school senior, much less a 15-year-old,” said Young of his prize signal-caller. “We forget sometimes that he’s still a sophomore, but he’s really progressed, not just physically, but mentally – going through the reads, taking what the defense gives him, taking care of the football. I was proud of how he protected the ball during the 7-on-7s. He was very efficient with his throws. His completion percentages were off the chart. He’s learning that he doesn’t have to make every play, and Cooper Goodwin is going to be a good one too. He’s not going to sit on the bench. We’re going to find a place for him to play, because he’s too good of an athlete and too smart of a player. He can also play receiver and safety as well. Whether it’s this year or next year, he’ll be on the field in different positions.
“With [returning starters] Grant Karnes, L.J. Robins and Peyton Presson, then Isaiah Arrington and Noah Chaser will have a big year, we feel really good about those five [receivers]. It means our young quarterbacks don’t have to win games for us. They’ve just got to protect the ball and give it to those other guys and let them do their thing.” Both Karnes and Robins had over 1,000 yards receiving last fall, and Presson was on his way to do the same before getting hurt late in the regular season.
“We had a great 7-on-7 season this year,” added the coach. “We normally don’t do a lot of that, but we did a little bit more this year, one at Alma, one at Russellville, and one at Siloam Springs, and we won all three of those. I think our 7-on-7 record this year was 22-1. It’s not a great indicator of football success, but it is an indicator of the ability to throw and catch and having athletes in the secondary. We think we are more athletic at the skill positions than we’ve been in the past.
“All three of our safeties are back – Braden Skaggs, Josh Allen, and Brady Mackey,” added Young. “Skaggs missed a lot last year with an injury, but he’s recovered and had a great baseball season. Landon Nelms at cornerback will be a three-year starter, though we held him out this spring due to shoulder surgery. Kaylor Jasna and Caden Nelms are the other two who have been at corner this spring, so we feel really good about our secondary, for sure.”
The secondary is a big part of the reason why the 2023 Bulldogs have so much promise – a defense boasting eight returning starters, the most in the 6A West conference. Besides the secondary, there’s experience up front on the defensive line and at linebacker. And while there’s not a great deal of size at those positions, there is a lot of athleticism, quickness, and speed.
“Our defense has a bunch of returning players too,” said Young. “We have eight starters back but probably 10 guys that played a lot, especially on the defensive line. We’re so athletic. Brenden Chick had a great spring. Just a lot of those guys on the defensive line – Eli Whitaker, Brady Pettigrew – we’re as deep and athletic defensively as we’ve been in a while.
“There’s a lot of guys that are 210 to 215 [pounds] that can run. We’re probably not as big as we would like overall on the defensive line, but we’re more athletic than we’ve been, and we’ll cause some [opponents] problems because of that.” Young added that returning starters Cash Archer and Riley White were both withheld this spring while recovering from injuries.
At linebacker, senior Kaleb Garner returns after taking over for the injured Riley White last season. “Kaleb had a great spring camp,” said his coach. “He set our squat record this year for his size in the history of Greenwood football, and Cash Archer set the bench press record for a sophomore. This is a really fine group of young men. They care about each other, and they show up and work hard. Our coaches have really enjoyed this group this spring.”
Asked about his impression of the spring game, the fourth-year head coach said, “It’s hard because the defense is not allowed to go full speed all spring, and then they are asked on one night to go tackle to the ground, and they’re not used to that. It took the defense a couple quarters to get used to it. I think early on we saw the offense have quite a bit of success, but in the second half the defense did a much better job. [Overall], we took plenty of positives away on both sides of the football.”
The Bulldogs also have both kickers returning this season. Bodey Steinfeldt returns as the team’s placekicker and Landon Nelms will do the punting once again. “To have both those guys back is huge,” said Young. “Landon had a great year punting the ball last season and he was just cleared [to return] after shoulder surgery, so we’ll have him when we start FASDOGS.” Both kickers are seniors.
Typically, the FASDOGS program draws hundreds of young athletes from Greenwood and the surrounding area, with many signing up during the first week of drills designed to improve overall athleticism – flexibility, agility, strength and speed. All varsity football players are required to attend the three-week camp with the 90-minute drills starting at 6:30 each morning Monday – Thursday for high school players and 7:30 for junior high players.
Non-football campers, both boys and girls, include grades 6-7 starting at 8:30 and grades 3-5 at 9:00 with each session lasting an hour. In years past as many as 500 students or more have attended, although fewer girls have participated in recent years. FASDOGS starts every summer after the end of the dead period mandated by the Arkansas Activities Association and runs either three or four weeks depending on the AAA calendar.
Sneak peek at 2023 season
With pre-season drills beginning Monday, July 31st, the Bulldogs’ annual scrimmage with the Fayetteville Purple Dogs will take place on Tuesday, August 15th with the season opener at home on August 25th against Stillwater, Oklahoma. Oddly enough, the Pioneers’ head coach for the past 12 seasons, Tucker Barnard, recently resigned to take the head job at Shiloh Christian, which lost its head coach in June. Barnard previously served as an assistant coach and coordinator at the Springdale school.
“There’s been a lot of movement in high school coaching in Arkansas,” revealed Young, “especially in the 7A Central. Conway, Bryant, Jonesboro, North Little Rock, and Little Rock Central all have new head coaches. Former GHS assistant coach Chris Hill is now the head man at El Dorado, a traditional power in 6A football. However, there were no head coaching changes in the 6A West where the Bulldogs reside. According to Hooten’s Arkansas Football magazine, which recently hit the newsstands, there will be 47 schools with new head coaches this coming season.
Asked about the 2023 season and the conference race, Coach Young joined the chorus of sportswriters and other observers who see Greenwood, Pulaski Academy, and Little Rock Christian as the teams to beat. Hooten’s has those schools listed as the top three in all of Class 6A and Young believes all three squads will be better than they were last season when Greenwood and P.A. both reached the title game. LR Christian also returns one of the best quarterback prospects in the nation in senior Walker White, already committed to Auburn University.
“He’s arguably one of the top quarterbacks in the country,” acknowledged the GHS coach. “Not only is he good, but the guys they have around him. They’ll have some new players that we haven’t seen. We saw them in a team camp, and they are extremely talented and very well coached. I think our conference will start with those guys and P.A. – they’ll be as good as anybody in the state. They got after us last year at their place and it left a sour taste in our mouth, so we’re certainly looking forward to that game in Greenwood this year. But they are a heck of a football team. I expect all three [teams] to be better than we were last year.”
According to Hooten’s, Arkansas’ football bible, Pulaski Academy lost its senior quarterback, Kel Busby, to an arm injury in the spring, and the Razorbacks’ baseball commit will sit out this coming fall to prepare for his collegiate baseball career. But P.A. never suffers from a dearth of athletes at the quarterback position, and Head Coach Anthony Lucas and his Bruins will be primed and ready to defend their 6A title won last season.
“6A is really good football right now from top to bottom,” said Young, with traditional powers like Benton, El Dorado, Jonesboro, and Lake Hamilton always fielding good squads. “As good as our conference was last year, we expect it to be even better this year,” added the coach. The other teams in the league include Van Buren, Siloam Springs, Mountain Home, Russellville, and Greenbrier.
The Hooten’s 6A West coaches’ poll has Greenwood ranked #1, P.A. #2, LR Christian #3, and Lake Hamilton #4. “There’s going to be a lot of good ballgames this year,” agreed Young. “There’s a lot of teams that have games circled on their calendar. It will be fun to be a fan of high school football [this season].”
Greenwood’s open date is week six, right in the middle of the season, which is ideal for the Bulldogs just ahead of the toughest part of the league schedule. “That’s just about perfect,” said Young. “But that’s just the luck of the draw. It’s a two-year cycle, so we’ll have the exact same schedule this year as we did last year.”
Facilities upgrades
GHS parents and fans have probably noticed some of the facility upgrades being made on campus for the coming school year. Most of those were already completed or underway by the time of Young’s promotion, so his involvement was minimal. But he did comment on several of the improvements, including a new video board for Smith-Robinson Stadium, a bigger, better version of the previous model. The upgrade was funded by the Bulldog Foundation or BFI and is expected to enhance the enjoyment of football fans this season with a larger screen and sharper images. The video board was installed earlier this year. Besides Smith-Robinson Stadium, the district has also made upgrades to H.B. Stewart Arena, the community tennis courts, and the softball field.
Regarding the most obvious improvements to anyone driving down Daisy Street in recent months, the tennis courts are currently being completely rebuilt. “I have not been involved in that,” admitted the new AD. Mr. Hesslin handled that even before Dr. Smith left. But we’re excited about it. We’ve got a great tennis program here that the late Ken Hamilton built. It was a big loss this year for the Bulldog family with the passing of Mr. Hamilton. He was a huge influence on so many of our tennis players and got that program going. Luckily the district is able to provide some new tennis courts and pickleball courts. It will be great for those kids.
“We’re also doing some exciting stuff right now in the basketball arena,” he added. “We’re going to build some big trophy cases up there to showcase state championships from all sports, not just basketball. We’re also going to do some graphics on the wall, some pictures of basketball players, and some things to spruce up the arena. Coach Reeves has done such a great job with our Lady Bulldogs, and we’re excited about B.J. Ross coming back to Greenwood to lead the men’s program. Ross was hired in May after leading the boys’ basketball program at nearby Charleston for many years.
Young also mentioned the new jumbotron at Smith-Robinson Stadium, installed earlier this year, though he admitted that he doesn’t often notice the video board during games, but acknowledged the Bulldog Foundation for providing such a great amenity for the fans. “I don’t get caught looking up there too often,” he laughed, “but I know it will be [fun] for our fans and a great way to showcase our kids.” There are also some minor changes to the softball field, including a new visitors’ dugout.
Coach Ryan Mallett
“It was a terrible deal,” said Young when asked about the sudden and tragic drowning death of Ryan Mallett, the 35-year-old head coach at White Hall High School near Pine Bluff. Most Arkansans remember Mallett as a top-notch quarterback for the Razorbacks who went on to play several seasons in the NFL as a backup. Mallett died in the waters near Destin, Florida, a favorite vacation spot for many, including Young and his family, who were just a couple miles down the beach at the time of the accident. Casey Dick, the current head coach at Fayetteville and another former Razorback QB was also nearby.
“We had the opportunity to play White Hall in the 7-on-7 in Russellville, so I got to visit with Ryan just a few weeks ago, and my wife and I and my family were just two miles down the beach at the time [of his death]. Coach Dick was down there as well. It’s terrible. You hate it for White Hall and their kids and community, because it sounds like they had gotten that program going and had success, and also what [Coach Mallett] meant to the state of Arkansas. I didn’t know him well,” Young continued. “I had visited with him and competed against him and saw the passion he had for his kids. He’d done a great job.”