Winnfield Senior High School’s new head football coach and athletic director Byron Keller told the large crowd at Pine Ridge Country Club on Monday night that he’s excited to be back in Winnfield.
The south Louisiana native (St. James Parish) has gained experience, having already coached at 7 different schools, 3 of them as head coach, and this is the first time that the community has turned out to welcome his arrival.
Principal Chase Bartlett also said the school is excited to see Keller taking the helm of the football program. He noted that when they looked at the possibilities for the position. Keller’s name came to the top. Keller had been at WSHS previously as an assistant coach and emphasizes the school’s priorities for players of “academics, athletics and community involvement.”
Keller graduated from St. James High School then studied at NSU where he received his degree. (An influence, his wife, is from Natchitoches, he pointed out). He went back to his hometown where he worked as an assistant and coordinating coach for 12 years. They then moved to Natchitoches. He served as head coach at Lakeview, head coach at Natchitoches Central, came to Winnfield, served as an assistant at Many one year when they won the state championship, then served as head coach at Red River.
Also returning to the Tiger sidelines with the new coach will be his assistant Tommy Tharp who has been at WSHS before. He told those assembled that he’d loved his time here and built relationships with coaches and staff but other coaching opportunities arose. He emphasized that he’s “not taking the attitude that this is just a rebuilding year. We want to move quickly. We’re going to try to win any way we can that’s within the rules. It’s going to be a whole lot more fun putting this program back where it belongs.”
Initially Keller was told that his coaching staff would be “slim” but that too has grown as coaches have agreed to come on board. Bartlett introduced the Tiger coaching staff as including Dammion Herron, Micah Griffin, Eric Hardaway and Chance Williams.
The new head coach has met with the team and is looking for “positive changes.” He said training has already begun for the fall season, with a focus on the weight room where the necessary elements of strength, speed and attitude are built.
