Turner looking to turn Sheridan around

Sheridan recently hired Tyler Turner as their head football coach following a coaching search that lasted just over three months.

The district decided to go with Turner after several rounds of interviews that included a few heavy hitting coaches, but none that appeared serious about accepting a job offer if one was to come their way.

Turner, however, was ready to accept an offer, and the district was ready to extend one to him after researching his impressive resume as a head football coach. Frankly, administrators, school board members, and the community are ready for Sheridan to have a successful football program, and they all knew it was going to take someone that has had success before to give them a chance at turning their program around.

As a head coach Turner has compiled a 75-20 record, averaging 10.7 wins per year. He has a 15-7 record in the playoffs and has led to teams to either the state championship game or semi-finals six of his seven years as a head coach. His teams have a 37-7 conference record. He has had 33 players sign to play college football, including 13 Division I signees.

Turner also has a history of turning around football programs that have had losing records, which is a quality that several board members told Arkansas Varsity they were looking for in their next head coach, and two of his most impressive jobs include Olive Branch, Mississippi and Goodpasture Christian School in Madison, Tennessee.

At Olive Branch, Turner inherited a team with a 14-game losing streak and orchestrated one of the biggest turnarounds in the history of Mississippi high school football. In his first year at Olive Branch, his team went 12-2, was ranked No. 3 in the state, and its only two losses were both to the eventual Class 5A state champion. Olive Branch outscored opponents 463-199 compared to the previous year when they were outscored 177-381. In three years at Olive Branch, his teams were 33-8 compared to 11-23 in the three years prior to his arrival.

In one year at Goodpasture Christian School in Madison, Tenn., he went 9-3. Goodpasture had gone 7-26 in the three years before he arrived. In one year at Jackson Prep in Flowood, Miss., he took a team with three returning starters and went 8-5 and advanced to the state semifinals, setting numerous school offensive records in the process.

For a program like Sheridan that has only had four winning seasons in the past 40 years hiring a head coach that has turned two programs around certainly looks like a move in the right direction.

Turner will have his work cut out for him, but it is a job that can be done. There is talent at Sheridan. There is a desire to win at Sheridan, and there is a community that supports football at Sheridan.

That support will be needed moving forward as upgraded facilities – to include an indoor facility – are severely needed at Sheridan. Coaches that have spoken with Arkansas Varsity regarding this search have all stated that the lack of an indoor facility was a major concern for them, and is something they feel is needed as soon as possible.

Despite the lack of an indoor facility at Sheridan there is a team full of players that have shown great work ethic during the offseason by putting up record numbers in the weight room.

Now, it is time to allow Tyler Turner to take advantage of that work ethic as he prepares to go to work to show what he can do in YJNation, and hopefully those much needed upgraded facilities will come soon!