Eleven years ago, George Shelton threw his hat into the ring for the Little Rock Central head football coach opening.
It was a coveted position and a chance to replace the legendary Bernie Cox, who left the Tigers after 34 years, 271 wins and 7 state championships.
But Shelton's wife had health issues and the then-Watson Chapel coach pulled his name from consideration.
More than a decade and three coaching stops later, Shelton is ready to take charge of the Tigers.
"It's my time," he said.
Shelton, 62, was hired at Central last month, replacing Kent Laster who led the Tigers to playoff appearances in his last two seasons before departing for Waco (Texas) University High School.
Shelton is taking over his second program in as many seasons. He returned to the head coach's office for the first time in seven years last summer when he was hired at Dumas. In one season, Shelton took the Bobcats from missing the playoffs to winning nine of 13 games before losing to eventual champion Shiloh Christian in the quarterfinals.
"I certainly didn't have any idea that I'd be departing from Dumas as quickly as I did," Shelton said. "I'm not at a point where I plan anything other than the next practice, the next day, the next season. You don't try to live too far in advance -- I'm old enough and wise enough to [know that]."
In fact, there was no grand plan to get back into coaching, period.
Shelton's first head coaching job was at Augusta, taking the Red Devils to the 2001 2A state final. He then went to Pine Bluff Dollarway and led the Cardinals to 3A and 4A title-game appearances in 2004 and 2007, respectively.
Shelton jumped to Watson Chapel next, reaching three state semifinals in seven seasons before stepping away.
But Warren Coach Bo Hembree saw that coaching itch anytime he and Shelton crossed paths. The pair had known one another from coaching clinics and several nonconference matchups in the 2000s.
And often Shelton would be out on Friday nights, either at Dollarway or Warren -- where he first started coaching as an assistant nearly 40 years ago.
"I'd [say], 'Do you miss it?,'" Hembree said. "And he'd kind of give me that little smirk that he does, that he's known for."
That smirk led to a job. Hembree offered Shelton a chance to return to Warren as an assistant, carving out a special role in addition to coaching linebackers for the Lumberjacks.
It was a relationship that ultimately proved beneficial for both parties. Shelton got to return to the coaching ranks, and Warren built on its success by adding elements of the smash-mouth, tough-nosed Wishbone offense Shelton had utilized at his previous stops.
And in his first season with the Lumberjacks, they went a perfect 15-0 on their way to the 2016 Class 4A state championship. The next year, Warren returned to the 4A title game before losing to Arkadelphia.
After the 2019 season, Shelton felt as if he'd "fulfilled [his] purpose" with the Lumberjacks and decided to step away.
Little did he know that the Dumas job would open last spring, and Shelton took over the position in June -- less than three months before the Bobcats' season began.
But Hembree wasn't surprised that his longtime friend didn't need long to get things going in the right direction at Dumas.
"You look at every place he's been, he's done what it takes to win. He won at Augusta, he won at Dollarway, he won at [Watson] Chapel, he won at Dumas -- he's going to do whatever it takes to make the kids most successful.
"The thing that he's going to do that's bigger than anything is he's going to get the kids to buy in."
While the new Tigers coach finishes filling out his coaching staff, interim head coach Clifton Ealy has led the team's offseason program. And Shelton has enjoyed getting to see his players work.
Although Central will once again have to deal with a challenging conference -- the Tigers will run into all four Class 7A semifinalists from a year ago in Bryant, North Little Rock, Cabot and Conway -- Shelton is optimistic that what he's seen in more than a month can parlay into on-field results come the fall.
"[I've seen] a lot of hard-working kids and kids that are displaying quite a bit of character," Shelton said. "I enjoy building relationships with kids, so what's been really pleasant is to see the demeanor of the kids and the discipline that they show on a day-to-day basis in terms of how they approach their work."