The Henderson State Reddies will wrap up their spring practices April 8 with the 21st annual Sporty Bowl at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium, and at halftime of the spring game, Henderson State head coach Scott Maxfield will present the Sporty Carpenter Award to Hot Springs head football coach Darrell Burnett.
The spring game is free for all fans to attend.
"It feels really good," Burnett said. "I always look at Henderson as my Arkansas, my Alabama. That's where I went. That's what made us, and that's what made me a man. That is a whole lot of lessons taught from coach Maxfield. It was my second time actually away from my hometown. You learn a lot and greatly appreciate where you graduated from. It is a real good honor."
Burnett said Maxfield was an upfront coach.
"He said, 'You did a good job this year, but I am going to bring in this guy right here to beat you out,'" Burnett said. "I was like cool alright, and I accepted the challenge. I respected that out of him."
Burnett redshirted his first year, then started his redshirt freshman year and his last three years under Maxfield.
"It is big man, it is huge," Burnett said. "I stay in contact with coach Maxfield. He has always been one of them guys that look out for you. He is one of them true coaches that try to help you along the way with family, jobs and just things that coaches say they are going to do, but a lot of them don't do it. This is really big for me."
The Sporty Award is given in honor of Henderson State's Sporty Carpenter. He was the Henderson State head coach from 1971-1989. Carpenter racked up 119 total wins and won five Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference championships.
Each year, the award is presented to a former Henderson State football player or alumni who has pursued a career in coaching and who has displayed excellence on, as well as off, the field.
"We had some guys at Henderson that were talented my first year," Burnett said. "My defensive coordinator had coached at Ole Miss before, and at the time his scheme was different. You had to be thinking, ya know. If motion happened, eagle super-six or five wide you check this and that. There was a whole lot of stuff. Some of our safeties were good enough to be on the field, but it was tough for them.
"I had to learn how to play defense. I had never played defense really so I redshirted. Everybody was coming back in the secondary my first year. I worked hard on the scout team and spring. I started and never looked back."
On Sep. 16, 2006, Henderson State hosted No. 1 Delta State and won 16-13. The Reddies would narrowly miss the playoffs.
"They were the No. 1 team in the nation," Burnett said. "It was a great time. It was a whole bunch of good guys. I am still in communication with guys and my roommates still to this day."
Burnett played defensive back for the Reddies from 2003-2007.
"When he got there he took my No. 2 and gave me 31," Burnett said. "I was cool with that. I said I am going to make 31 clean. By the end of the spring, he called me in and rewarded me No. 5. I tell all of our kids No. 5 means a lot to me. I had to earn that number and it was not just a number you chose. That always stuck with me. You don't get anything unless you go get it."
In 2012, Burnett was hired as the defensive coordinator at Camden Fairview under coaching legend Buck James, where he won a 5A state championship.
"The biggest thing was poise and understanding the moment," Burnett said. "I had never called a game before in junior high, JV, none of that before I got to Camden. I was just a D-back coach. He took a chance on me, and it was one of those chances that make or break a career. At the time Camden was always good on offense.
"You look at De'Anthony Curtis, Dominique Reed and all of those guys. You see all of those guys and it was always, 'Defense had not done this or defense is the reason.' You can go in there and continue to be a part of that defense that is not getting it done or you can go and be a part of being the guy that is going to change it. Man, I jumped in head first."
Burnett took over the Trojan program in 2018 and has brought new life to Hot Springs since ascending to the title of head coach.
Troy was 1-9 the season prior to Burnett taking over. The Trojans have made the 5A playoffs in the last three seasons, marking the best playoff streak in school history.
Burnett was named assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for two years at Malvern before joining James again in Bryant for one year as defensive coordinator.
"I learned all those life lessons and how to be prepared," Burnett said. "You have your expectations for your team, coaches and everything that is involved when you come to Hot Springs and try to change the whole program."
Burnett is a defensive mastermind but played high school football at England as a quarterback.
"I went there as a quarterback," Burnett said. "A lot of people do not know that. I thought I was a Charlie Ward type dude. So, any school that recruited me to play receiver or defensive back I was not really trying to hear them. Henderson was one of those schools that actually brought me in and showed me everything with the offense. My first day I got moved over to defense so that did not last long."
Burnett has a bachelor's degree in sports and community management from Henderson State.
"I learned what everybody on my side had to do so I could learn different things," Burnett said. "It's kind of just helped me learn defense and it was fun. I am a Miami Hurricanes fan with Sean Taylor and all those guys on defense. My roommate was the quarterback, so he would sit down and go over the whole playbook on the offensive side. I was able to understand it from that side too."
Reddie blood runs deep in the Burnett home. His wife, Saprina Burnett, played basketball at Henderson State and is a 2015 Hall of Honor inductee. They have two daughters, Daniyah and Laila.
"My wife was an All-American there," Burnett said. "It was a good experience. I had my first child there. Everything kind of started my man hood at Henderson. My wife was happy, but she still has bragging rights. We are always going to celebrate each other's success."