Brad Bolding will coach in a high school game today for the first time since November 2014.
The former North Little Rock coach is now at Little Rock Parkview where his Patriots travel to southeast Arkansas today to face Star City.
Patriots at a glance
COACH Brad Bolding
CONFERENCE 5A-Central
2016 RECORD 1-8, 1-6 5A-Central
KEY RETURNERS QB Geary Allmon (Jr., 5-9, 160); RB/SS Zach Smith (Sr., 5-8, 180); OL/DL Roderick Johnson (Sr., 5-9, 250)
SCHEDULE
DATE;OPPONENT
Today;at Star City
Sept. 8;Benton^
Sept. 15;at North Little Rock
Sept. 21;Mills (Thu.)^*
Sept. 29;at LR Fair*
Oct. 6;Beebe#*
Oct. 13;at LR Christian*
Oct. 20;Pulaski Academy^*
Oct. 26;Sylvan Hills (Thu.)^*
Nov. 2;at LR McClellan (Thu.)*
*5A-Central Conference game
^At War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock
At War Eagle Stadium (LR Fair), Little Rock
Bolding, 48, who coached at North Little Rock in 2007-2014 before being fired in April 2015, is back in high school football with Parkview, which has not had a winning season since 2009.
When he coached his last game with North Little Rock, a 2014 loss in the Class 7A semifinals to Bentonville, he was 63-30 with the Charging Wildcats. Bolding was fired in April 2015 by North Little Rock for violating inventory and purchasing procedures and recruiting rules. He was in television and in private business the past two years.
Coaching in a game today is something Bolding has looked forward to for more than two years.
"Man, I'm excited about it," Bolding said. "I've had plenty of time to reflect about my career. I've had plenty of time to think about my philosophy. I was talking to other coaches and thinking about a few things and tweaking a few things. I really wanted to make it about the other coaches and the players and not myself."
With the Patriots' struggles this decade, Bolding, who was hired in December to replace interim coach Kenny Stephens, is attempting to rebuild a once-proud program on John Barrow Road. The Patriots went 1-8 last season, with their lone victory coming in a 52-13 rout of Little Rock Fair on Sept. 30.
Bolding said the players have responded well to the transition.
"When we first came in, we hit the ground running and we worked them hard," Bolding said. "We tried to lay the groundwork early. This is a process where you're building a program. A lot of times, you'll see baby steps, then you'll see one giant step, then you're back to baby steps. Then you'll occasionally take some back steps where you'll have to do some serious correcting. We've been through that. We've had our growing pains.
"By no means, are we where we want to be yet. We're moving in the direction that we needed to be moving to."
Junior Geary Allmon will start at quarterback after playing wide receiver last season. Bolding said he is happy with Allmon's progression at the position.
"There's so much to being a quarterback," Bolding said. "We've taken giant steps with him as far as leadership goes. We've been real pleased with him."
At running back, Bolding plans on using seniors Zach Smith and Trevon Hadley. Seniors Tyrell Hadley and Joe Howard are Parkview's top wide receivers.
On the offensive line, seniors Roderick Johnson and Noah Jenkins lead the Patriots at left guard and right tackle, respectively. Both play on the defensive line, also.
Defensively, Smith will start at strong safety and Trevon Hadley at linebacker.
Parkview will play four of its five home games this season at War Memorial Stadium. In recent years, the Patriots have played used Scott Field, Quigley-Cox Stadium and War Eagle Stadium for home games. Having War Memorial as their home stadium will be beneficial for the Patriots, Bolding said.
"It's exciting for our kids to get the opportunity to dress in there, where there's so much history," Bolding said. "There's been some great games there. It's going to be our homefield."
Sports on 09/01/2017