Discipline to be foundation of Burnett's Trojan program

The Sentinel-Record/Grace Brown- Hot Springs World Class High School's new head football coach, Darrell Burnett, left, speaks to the school board as his wife and children look on at the Hot Springs School Dristrict's Central Office on Tuesday, June 20, 2018.
The Sentinel-Record/Grace Brown- Hot Springs World Class High School's new head football coach, Darrell Burnett, left, speaks to the school board as his wife and children look on at the Hot Springs School Dristrict's Central Office on Tuesday, June 20, 2018.

Darrell Burnett, the new head football coach for the Hot Springs Trojans, emphasized discipline Tuesday when he was officially hired and later said it will be crucial for the program to succeed.

"The biggest thing is discipline and doing the right things all the time; doing the little things right," Burnett said. "That is the biggest thing. I don't care where you are. You could be at a 5A school or a 7A school, you can have athletes or non-athletic guys, the biggest thing is discipline.

"Teaching those basic fundamentals from the seventh grade on up, you're always going to win. You lose when you try to out-scheme people. Teach them the fundamentals and you'll never go wrong."

Burnett's hire was approved by the Hot Springs School Board Tuesday to succeed former coach Chris Vereen, who resigned in May to accept the head coach position at Star City. He said he has known Rodney Echols, Hot Springs athletic director, since 2012 when he began at Camden Fairview.

Hot Springs was seen as a destination location for Burnett. He said he would discuss Hot Springs with former Fairview offensive coordinator Robert Hooks, now the head coach at Osceola. Hooks received the 2017 Farm Bureau Insurance Award for 4A Coach of the Year in December.

"We always said we thought this would be a great spot to work, great spot to change kids' lives, make a difference and change a program," Burnett said.

Burnett graduated from England High School and moved to Arkadelphia to play football for the Henderson State Reddies. He said he turned down offers to attend other schools who wanted him to play defense.

"I got there as a quarterback and, on the first day, they moved me to corner," Burnett said. "Ever since then, I've been on the defensive side of the ball."

Burnett graduated from Henderson only to learn he was not officially certified to teach or coach. His first job out of college was at a prison.

"I don't think anybody that could say they worked at a prison would end up thinking they would be a teacher or a coach," Burnett said.

Burnett moved to another company and worked to earn his certification. He was an assistant at Gurdon in his first year of coaching.

His second position was defensive coordinator for Camden Fairview during the program's most successful run. The Cardinals won the Class 5A state championship in Burnett's first season with the team and were 24-2 in his two seasons in Camden.

Burnett next moved to Malvern in Class 4A, where the Leopards were 10-4 in his first season as defensive coordinator and 6-5 the following season. He spent the last two seasons at Class 7A Bryant as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.

The Hornets were 19-6 in 2016-17 with what Burnett said will be a number of future college players. He said moving to Hot Springs was a "no-brainer" for his family, but he said he will miss his former students.

"It was a tough decision to leave the kids at Bryant," Burnett said. "They work so hard for you. You build up the program and that defense how you want it."

Burnett has a 59-17 record as a defensive coordinator.

"If you're a coach and you study the game like you are supposed to, if you are a defensive guy, you actually learn more offense," Burnett said. "You've always got to stay ahead of the offense. You learn the reads and keep up to date on different schemes and how they are going to attack. At the end of the day, I just think I'm a football coach."

The Trojans are 28-54 in the last eight years, even while the basketball programs have had success. Antoni Lasker is the new coach of the boys' basketball program following Echols' move to athletic director after four consecutive appearances in the Class 5A state semifinals. Josh Smith led the Lady Trojans to a 31-3 record this season and a fifth state championship in program history, three years after they won the fourth.

"I bet they all pride themselves on discipline, doing the right things, having some structure and teaching fundamentals," Burnett said. "That is really what is going to turn the program around, teaching the kids how to be men."

Burnett said he looks at North Little Rock as a model for success in multiple sports. He said he hopes to bring positive energy to the program, the high school and the city of Hot Springs.

"I want those kids to know who I am," Burnett said. "So, when they look at me, they can see a guy that was just like them. I don't mean that just by race or anything. I mean that by background, how you come up and different things you are going to have to see and overcome to make it out.

"I want to bring positive energy. That's from me and that's every coach; bring some discipline and try to take some pride in wearing that 'T' on the helmet."

Hot Springs is scheduled to meet the Fountain Lake Cobras on Aug. 30 in the inaugural First Security Bank Kickoff Classic.

Sports on 06/24/2018

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