The New Face of the West 7A-West Conference undergoes coaching upheaval

Heritage quarterback Trey Kitterman (left) tries to fight off Fort Smith Northside defender Tanner Cross on Oct. 9, 2015, at David Gates Stadium in Rogers.
Heritage quarterback Trey Kitterman (left) tries to fight off Fort Smith Northside defender Tanner Cross on Oct. 9, 2015, at David Gates Stadium in Rogers.

The 7A-West Conference has seen its share of changes over the past decade.

Springdale Har-Ber started this trend when it joined the league in 2006, then Rogers Heritage entered the fold two years later. This year, Van Buren returns to the conference for the third time, while Bentonville West begins its inaugural campaign in what has become Arkansas' most prestigious football conference.

7A-West Conference Changes Timetable

2006 — The league gets its new name and welcomes Springdale Har-Ber, while former AAAAA-West member Russellville is moved to the 7A-Central.

2008 — Rogers Heritage joins the league, sending Van Buren to the 7A-Central.

2012 — Reclassification causes a brief name change to the 7A/6A-West as Van Buren and Siloam Springs join, while Fort Smith Northside and Fort Smith Southside are sent to the 7A/6A-Central.

2014 — The league is an all-7A group again as Northside and Southside return, while Van Buren and Siloam Springs go to the 7A/6A-Central.

2016 — Bentonville West enters the league and Van Buren returns, while Northside and Southside go to the new 7A-Central.

7A-West Football Coaches: Then and Now

School^2014^2016

Bentonville High^Barry Lunney^Jody Grant

Bentonville West^N/A^Bryan Pratt

Fayetteville^Daryl Patton^Bill Blankenship

Rogers Heritage^Perry Escalante^Tony Travis

Rogers High^Shawn Flannigan^Mike Loyd

Springdale Har-Ber^Chris Wood^Chris Wood

Springdale High^Shane Patrick^Zak Clark

Van Buren^Brooks Coatney^Greg Werner

Those changes, however, pale in comparison to what the league's coaching landscape has recently experienced. Half of the 7A-West's teams will take the field this week with new head coaches -- Bryan Pratt at West, Bill Blankenship with Fayetteville, Tony Travis at Heritage and Mike Loyd at Rogers High.

Meanwhile, Jody Grant is in his second year as Bentonville High's head coach, as is Zak Clark at Springdale High and Greg Werner at Van Buren. That leaves Chris Wood, Har-Ber's only coach, as the 7A-West's elder statesman.

"It's humbling," Wood said. "I can't believe it's changed over as quick as it has in the last couple of years. I just can't see that I'm 43 and the one being in the league the longest. It's kind of surreal. Jeff Williams at (Fort Smith) Southside is an established 7A-West coach, but by reclassification we lost him.

"But I also know that this is still a competitive league with high expectations and high standards. You see it in our facilities; you see it in the product we're putting on the field. It's a big deal for the communities to rally behind, and they take pride in their athletic teams."

The coaching changes also mean the conference will have somewhat different dynamics this season. Fans received a taste of what West will be like this season when Pratt coached the Bentonville Gold team to an 8-1 record last fall.

With Loyd at Rogers' helm, the Mounties will ditch the run-heavy double-slot offense and opt for the more common spread package this season, while Travis installed a pro-I attack during Heritage's spring workouts. Van Buren runs a Flexbone offensive package, so coaches will have their work cut out for them as far as scouting and preparing for their opponents each week.

"There's going to be some massive changes going on, not only in what people are used to seeing but also in some of the traditions," Pratt said. "Some people are trying to change stuff, while we are trying to start something from scratch here.

"It's going to be a fun deal. We know it's going to be challenging. But if you're going to play with the big boys, this is the best conference to be with."

Oklahoma roots run deep

It will be a reunion of sorts on a few occasions when Pratt, Blankenship or Loyd take the field against each other this season because of their storied pasts in Oklahoma. All of them spent years coaching high school football -- and for Blankenship, some college football -- in that state.

Blankenship was inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2009 after compiling a 154-26 mark at Tulsa Union and serving previous tenures at Tulsa Eastwood Baptist, Spiro and Edmond Memorial. Pratt and Loyd both coached at McAlester at different times, and Pratt contacted Blankenship -- who he considers a friend and mentor -- before he left McAlester to take the West job last year.

"Billy Blankenship and I go all the way back to '76 or '77," Loyd said. "He's probably as good a human being as I have ever met and a quality person. Coach Pratt, I coached against him during his junior and senior year at Broken Bow. Greg (Werner) at Van Buren, I coached against him when he was at Broken Bow.

"To me, Arkansas is not that different from Oklahoma. There's good people here, as well as southwest Missouri, where I grew up. It's cool and neat to come back and have people you've known most of your life, so I'm not coming into something that I really don't know anything about."

Pratt will get two Oklahoma reunions out of the way when conference play starts as his West team hosts Verner and Van Buren in the Sept. 23 league opener, then visits Blankenship at Fayetteville the following week. Blankenship and Loyd will meet when their teams square off Oct. 7, then Loyd and Pratt will reunite when West hosts Rogers later that month.

"I would say we are pretty close friends -- the three of us, at different levels," Blankenship said. "It's fascinating that we are all in the same conference now. I don't think anybody would have predicted that a year ago.

"I promise you, those two are outstanding coaches. They know what they are doing and experienced, and they have a history of success. I think people in this area will be pleased with the quality of coaching those two guys bring."

History on his side

Unlike the 7A-West's other three new coaching hires, Travis doesn't bring the Oklahoma pedigree to Heritage. What he does offer the War Eagles is knowledge about the conference and how it works.

Travis served as an assistant at Fayetteville before leaving seven years ago to take over at Pea Ridge, where he stayed until Heritage hired him earlier this year. He built Pea Ridge into a 4A power that reached the state semifinals last season.

"There's been a lot of water under the bridge during that time," Travis said. "I've been around this before, but it's not the same conference as it was then. When I was there, Springdale had split and Rogers had just split.

"Now you have Bentonville splitting, and we're bringing Van Buren back in. It's a different look, for sure. Who knows what will happen? The expectations of all the schools in this conference are going to stay the same. It's a high level of competition. with outstanding players and outstanding coaching staffs. There are also good numbers at all of these schools."

The two sides of experience

Pratt will not have the luxury of any senior players on his first West team, but he does have something the other new coaches don't have on their side. By being Gold's ninth-grade coach last year, he was able to instill his style of play to those who are now sophomores on the Wolverines team.

It's the other way around for Blankenship. He will have the experienced players at his disposal at Fayetteville -- a team considered by many as the favorite to win the conference and the Class 7A state title -- but he has had limited dealings with them since he wasn't hired until June, just before the athletic "dead weeks" took place.

"There is no easing into this for us," Blankenship said. "We have a very challenging nonconference schedule. Those three games are going to be a real test for us, then our first conference game is against Bentonville. Hopefully we can keep the focus on the long haul, but understanding we don't have a lot of time to grow up and get ready.

"I'm still trying to learn names, and there's no way around it. It's not a puzzle where you take coach (Daryl) Patton's piece out, put my piece in and everything's the same. It's not because it's broken. It's because I can't be him, and I'm not going to be."

Sports on 08/28/2016

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