Tucker Barnard returning to Shiloh Christian (Arkansas) as football coach, athletic director

Reigning Oklahoma Coach of the Year was previously a part of four Arkansas state championships as an assistant

Shiloh Christian (Arkansas) announced a splashy hire as its new football coach and athletic director Wednesday.

The Arkansas football power is bringing back Tucker Barnard, the reigning Oklahoma high school coach of the year who was an assistant coach at Shiloh from 2004-2011.

He replaces Jeff Conaway, who stepped down from both posts at Shiloh Christian abruptly in June after nine seasons to take a job at The First Academy. 

"I’m so grateful for my time in Stillwater," Barnard said in a Twitter post Wednesday. "I’ve been blessed with great players, coaches, and relationships. I will be pursuing a new challenge and opportunity, but I will always cherish my memories of Stillwater!"

Barnard was a part of four Arkansas state championships during his first stint with Shiloh and will step into a similar winning culture. Shiloh Christian has played in the state championship game each of the last four seasons and won in 2020 and 2021.

He left the Springdale, Arkansas school and moved to Stillwater in 2011 to take over as the school's football coach and athletic director and the wins followed.

In five seasons, Stillwater went 55-6 and won its first state championship since 1967 last fall, beating Choctaw 26-21 in the Class 6A-II title game.

"I am incredibly excited about the future of our athletic program," Shiloh Christian Superintendent Keith McDaniel said in a release. "Coach Barnard is a big-time hire and will build on the storied tradition of Shiloh Christian athletics and seek to grow our student-athletes spiritually, academically and athletically. I have no doubt that coach Barnard will take our athletics program to a new level."

Shiloh Christian reached the Arkansas Class 5A state championship, where it lost to Parkview 31-21.