15 early candidates for SBLive Arkansas prep football's 2023 Coach of the Year

With the Arkansas prep football season wrapping up, SBLive selected 15 early candidates for the 2023 Coach of the Year award.

A knowledgable head coach, as well as a quality staff, is essential to having a successful season with all of the trials and adversity that could come with it. It is not always about undefeated seasons or championships, but more so overcoming insurmountable obstacles and/or surpassing expectations.

The following have exemplified those qualities and for their efforts have been named to the SBLive Coach of the Year watch list.

Waylon Dunn, Marked Tree

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A Marked Tree alum, Dunn has coached at his alma mater for three decades and the Indians were expected to have a successful year, but have even at this point surpassed expectations with their season still going. After earning the No. 3 seed out of the rugged 2A-2, Marked Tree has won back-to-back playoff games on the road to advance to Friday's matchup against Bigelow which is the Indians' first trip to the semifinals since 1972. If Dunn is to lead the Indians to the state finals, they will have traveled over 1,200 round trip during their playoff run.

Brad Chesshir, Murfreesboro

The 11 games Murfreesboro won this year were the most since 1996 when they finished with 13 and as a state finalist. It was also the Rattlers' second double-digit win season of the 21st century. Quite a turnaround in Year Two under Chesshir after just four wins in 2022. Despite falling 28-14 last week to Marked Tree, there was a lot to be proud of considering the Rattlers outscored opponents 406-69 in their victories.

Tommy Cody, DeWitt

It has been quite a while, all the way back to 1980, that the Dragons endured the kind of success they did this season winning 10 games. They finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, the only loss being to currently undefeated Warren, and earned a playoff victory for the second consecutive season before coming up short by just two points against Ashdown last Friday. DeWitt thrived offensively, averaging 38.5 points per game and surpassed 40 points seven times.

Casey Dick, Fayetteville

Fayetteville was expected to be a top contender in Class 7A, yes, but Dick has led the Purple Dogs to heights this season that they have not seen in over half of a century. During the 10-0 run, Fayetteville completed its first undefeated regular season since 1955 and second conference title in nearly six decades. Led by University of Minnesota commit Drake Lindsey at quarterback, he and Dick have orchestrated one of Arkansas' most potent offenses that averages 47.2 points per game. That should be a lot of fun to watch against Conway, another high-octane offense in Friday's semifinal matchup at Harmon Field.

Ryan Howard, Central Arkansas Christian

When Ryan Howard took the job at CAC he promised to bring a fast brand of football to Mustang Mountain. Boy, has he delivered on that. The Mustangs have arguably been the greatest turnaround story of 2023 as they went from back-to-back two-win seasons to winning the 4A-4 conference title, along with earning home field advantage throughout the postseason. Alongside University of Arkansas commit Grayson Wilson, Howard has led the '#Faststangs' as he has tabbed them, to averaging 49 points per contest and nine victories.

D.J. Keithley, Bismarck

The turnaround for the Lions over the past three years has been quite remarkable considering those are their only winning seasons during the 21st century. Bismarck is not done yet, but it has been a little extra special this year as the Lions have matched the program's highest win total (10) since 1994. Keithley has led a very balanced squad that averages an impressive 41.2 points per game offensively and surrenders only 15.9. They are currently riding a six-game win streak after edging defending 3A state champion Charleston 35-27 on the road last Friday and are traveling again on Black Friday in what should be a fun showdown against Prescott.

Anthony Lucas, Pulaski Academy

Pulaski Academy's two decades of dominance has created an expectation of winning state titles annually, but what Lucas and his staff have done this season is possibly one of the better coaching jobs in program history. First, the Bruins lost senior quarterback and Arkansas baseball commit Kel Busby to injury before the season, star running back Kenny Jordan moved to Tennessee in August and top receiver John Mark Charette has been out since the second half of the season opener. However, PA has once again bought into the 'Next Man Up' mentality and that grit has the defending 6A state champions in the semifinals with an opportunity to earn another short trip to War Memorial Stadium following their second walk-off win of the season against Marion last week.

Bryan Pratt, Bentonville West

There were many questions as to whether West could compete at a high level in 2023 after previous starting quarterback Jake Casey was ruled out for the season due to an offseason accident. While the outside wondered, inside the building Pratt and Co. knew they had another reliable signal caller in senior Dalton Rice. It worked out well as the Wolverines earned the 7A-West No. 3 seed, won the second-most games in the program's young history and finished in the quarterfinals following a valiant effort against Conway.

Garren Rockwell, Hot Springs Lakeside

Rockwell's promotion to head coach in February following seven years as the team's defensive coordinator received rave reviews amongst the Lakeside faithful. That excitement increased when the Rams beat crosstown rival Lake Hamilton in the season opener and that was just the beginning. Lakeside ended the season with eight victories, their most since 2019 after winning just two games last year, to earn the No. 2 seed out of the 5A-South which was the deepest conference in 5A this season. The Rams finished their season last week in the quarterfinals following a loss to Central No. 1 seed Pine Bluff.

Quad Sanders, Bryant

Being the leader of a five-time defending state champion it almost becomes robotic to predict it to happen again, but there was no shortage of Sanders doubters throughout the summer and even at points this year. Despite any outside noise, Sanders has kept his focus on the field and in-turn led the Hornets to a fifth consecutive 7A-Central conference championship and they are on the verge of a sixth straight opportunity to win the 7A state championship if they get past Bentonville - the team the Hornets thumped 36-7 in last year's finals - on Friday.

Kenny Simpson, Southside (Batesville)

Simpson has been key in not only the turnaround at Southside, but also building the program from the ground up and his guys really did not get a whole lot of preseason attention despite multiple key starters returning. Simpson led the Southerners to their most wins in a single season since 2017 (10) that included the walk-off first round playoff victory over Joe T. Robinson via a Joel Busby 35-yard field goal. Out of the unique Gun-T offense, Southside racked up over 4,000 rushing yards while averaging 37 points per game.

Clay Totty, Wynne

The fact Wynne even fielded a football team in 2023 alone makes Totty, who just completed his first season with the 'Jackets, a candidate. Not only did he have to endure the changes of coaching a new squad for the first time in a quarter of a century, but also faced the challenge of keeping his group together amidst despairing conditions. A Class 5A school that dressed anywhere between 30-35 players during the season, Wynne finished with five victories and clinched the No. 3 seed out of the 5A-East. They won their final three games of the regular season and gave Mills all it wanted in the first round of the playoffs despite coming up short.

Nick Vaughn, Camden Fairview

Knowing the success they had under Vaughn in Year One last season, it was expected that the Cardinals would be highly competitive, but it likely was not predicted they would earn semifinal berths in back-to-back seasons. Following a four-game win streak from late September through late October, the Cardinals dropped their final two regular season games and were slotted in the 5A-South's final playoff spot. They have since gone on the road and taken down 5A-West top seed Farmington and East No. 2 seed Southside (Batesville), which sets up Friday's meeting at War Memorial Stadium with defending state champion and top-ranked Parkview with the winner coming right back next week to play in the finals.

Josh Watson, Salem

After Hoxie's one-point loss last Friday, Watson's Greyhounds are the final remaining unbeaten team in Class 3A. With 11 victories, Salem has matched its most wins in school history (2012) and can set a new program record with a victory over Mansfield Friday. The Greyhounds will also clinch a semifinal berth for the first time since 2019 if they tame the Tigers. Salem has a devastating rushing attack that has scored 54 touchdowns as a team and averages 336 yards per game, while the defense has surrendered just 15.3 points each time out.

Gary Wilson, Carlisle

Yes, they made the state finals last year, but let's not pretend like the Bison were not written off by some after J.J. Sullivan, one of the state's all-time decorated runnings backs, departed as well as head coach Caleb Shock's resignation. However, Bison alum and previous assistant Gary Wilson has done a remarkable job of keeping his squad motivated and to not be complacent. The Bison have won 11 games, are another away from another finals appearance and have one of the more lockdown defenses in 2A allowing just 11 points per contest.

Feature photo of Fayetteville's Casey Dick by George Mitchell

--Kyle Sutherland