If Josh Salsbury were to wear all his championship rings at the same time, he would likely set off metal detectors across Northwest Arkansas.
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As a player at Shiloh Christian, Salsbury won three state football championship rings as a starting offensive lineman for all four seasons of high school. Salsbury was a freshman on the 2006 Class 3A state title team and won back-to-back Class 4A state titles as a junior and senior. He also played in the 3A state title game as a sophomore, but the Saints lost a heart-breaker at War Memorial Stadium.
Salsbury’s exploits were not just relegated to the football field. He was a standout baseball player for the Saints and won another state title on the diamond as a senior in 2010.
“I didn’t know anything but to just go out and compete,” Salsbury said. “The other guys just rallied around me when I was a freshman. We were blessed those four years I was there.”
After leaving Shiloh Christian, Salsbury played baseball at UCA before injuries derailed his promising career.
“I had about four knee surgeries, and I just decided to hang it up,” he said.
After earning his degree from UCA, he spent a year as an assistant at Little Rock Catholic. Salsbury returned to Shiloh Christian as a coach last summer, where he is an assistant with the football and baseball teams, in addition to teaching math.
This past spring, Josh and his father, Randy, were part of Shiloh Christian’s Class 4A state baseball championship. The father and son handled the pitching staff, which did not allow a single run in state tournament play.
“I got the opportunity to win a state title with my dad and not many people are able to say that,” Salsbury said. “It was special for our family.”
Salsbury still wears his championship rings on the sideline, he said. You can hear him jingling from miles away.
— CHIP SOUZA • @NWACHIP