FAYETTEVILLE -- Daryl Patton spoke publicly for the first time Friday since his sudden resignation as head football coach at Fayetteville on May 12.
Patton, who was named Bauxite head football coach on Thursday, confirmed Friday his voluntary resignation for "personal reasons" was the result of an extramarital affair.
"When I resigned at Fayetteville, I did a lot of praying, and I didn't know if I wanted to stay in coaching," Patton said. "I went in the dark there for about a week and didn't talk to anybody. Then I was looking into a job in the trucking industry and had a very good interview with a nice woman in Atlanta, Ga., and was praying about that when I got about three texts about three different coaching jobs in Texas and Arkansas.
"None of those jobs really appealed to me. I didn't want to move to Texas and some of the jobs weren't in central Arkansas. But then I get a text Tuesday morning saying the Bauxite job had come open and they were interested."
Patton, who graduated from Bryant -- just seven miles from Bauxite -- and coached the Hornets for five seasons from 1998 to 2002 before coming to Fayetteville in 2003, was very interested in the Miners when hearing everything they had to offer.
"They really showed me how committed they were," Patton said. "So on Wednesday we kept talking, and then on Thursday I accepted the job.
"The location was a big thing. My daughter lives in Bryant, my stepdaughter and stepson are down there and my mom and other family are there. So I've got my family in Saline County, and it was a way for me and my wife, Tracey, to get back close to our family."
Patton didn't expect his run at Fayetteville, which included four Class 7A state championships in 13 seasons, to end the way it did. But he did envision one day his career closing on a final path such as the one he chose Thursday.
"I'm very, very proud of what we accomplished at Fayetteville," Patton said. "I've got nothing but good things to say about the Fayetteville players, the staff and administrators.
"But before I retired, I had always hoped to go to a smaller school where it's really about one school and community."
Bauxite is just 10-50 in its last six seasons since moving up in classification and joining the 4A-7 Conference, considered among the toughest conferences in the state.
"I wouldn't have taken the job if I didn't have confidence in myself," Patton said. "But no one person can do this. Obviously it will take work from everyone, and it won't happen overnight.
"But we will get better."
Sports on 05/28/2016