Hope native named HHS coach

By Submitted, 05/10/18 3:43 PM

HOPE – The Hope Public Schools Board voted unanimously Tuesday to name a 1997 Hope High School alumnus as the new head football coach and co-activities director for the Bobcats.
Phillip Turner, currently the offensive coordinator for the Ashdown High School Panthers, was named to the post on the recommendation of Hope Public Schools Superintendent Bobby Hart.
“Hope Public Schools is proud to announce the hiring of Phillip Turner as our new Head Football Coach and Co-Activities Director,” Hart said. “Phillip will undoubtedly bring a passion and energy level to all our programs and will work tirelessly to improve outcomes on and off the field for your young people.”
Hart said Turner was an excellent fit for the Hope program.
“All of HPS will be impacted by the work that Coach Turner is embarking upon,” he said. “He fits tremendously with our philosophy of providing students and parents with our best daily; and, holding the adults as well as the students accountable for the results.”
Turner has been the junior high program football coach at Ashdown, and has run the Panthers’ high school varsity offense since 2012. He teaches physical education and also coaches basketball and track for the Ashdown athletics program.
A 2001 graduate of Henderson State University in Arkadelphia with a bachelor of science degree in human services, Turner took his MSE in curriculum instruction from Texas A&M University-Texarkana in 2010.
Turner entered the field of behavioral health in 2001 and worked in case management for the Southwest Arkansas Counseling and Mental Health Service until 2008, when he went to the Queen City Independent School District as a physical education teacher and coached junior high football, track and basketball and directed the varsity secondary and wide receiver corps. He became varsity basketball coach at Queen City High School in 2009, while coaching varsity girls’ track and assisting the varsity boys team through 2011.
Turner returned to Hope in 2011 to teach physical education, prior to taking on duties in Ashdown in 2012 where he ran the AHS varsity boys’ track, and ninth grade basketball programs. He took on high school varsity football and basketball assistant coaching duties through 2015, when he was named varsity offensive coordinator for the Panthers. In 2016-2017, Ashdown was district champion and state runner-up in 4A boys’ track.
“I do want to thank our search committee for its work and attention to the process,” Hart said. “This hire addresses and exceeds the core values that the committee and district wanted in our next Head Football Coach/Co-AD.
“Coach Turner’s commitment to academics, his student-focused and accountable leadership style, his vision for our programs and students, his organizational skills, and his energy level are congruent with our district’s demands for leaders in our district,” Hart added. “Please join me in welcoming home Coach Phillip Turner.”
Turner replaces Jay Turley, who had been HHS head football coach since 2010 and was named co-athletic director for the district in 2017. Turley has been named principal of Prescott Junior High School in Prescott.