For the first time since 2021, White Hall High School will enter football season with the same head coach as the year before.
Daryl Patton is entering his second season in charge of the Bulldogs, and he said the continuity with the coaching staff is a huge help.
“You can see it with the kids,” Patton said. “They know me. I know them. I know what their weaknesses are. I know what their strengths are. They know how far they can go with me, so it’s been a good situation this spring.”
In 2021, third-year head coach Bobby Bolding led the Bulldogs to a Class 5A state title game appearance before stepping down. The current seniors were in eighth grade that year.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
White Hall has had three head coaches since. The school hired former University of Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett in 2022. After Mallett’s death in the summer of 2023, Jason Mitchell led the team as interim head coach that fall before Patton was hired as the permanent head coach. Mitchell has remained with the team as defensive coordinator.
Senior quarterback Wyatt Golden said having a returning head coach has been great for the players.
“It’s awesome because you can just take it, and you can just build on what you learned last year,” Golden said. “Obviously, you’re not having to go from running a different offense or a different defense. You can just continue to run what you ran last year, and you can grow from there.”
Just as Patton is entering his second year as head coach, Golden is back for his second year starting at quarterback.
Golden threw for 1,772 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior last year, but 20 interceptions held him back. Patton said some of those weren’t Golden’s fault, but he has gone over the film of the rest with his quarterback to get those mistakes corrected.
After working with Golden throughout the offseason, Patton said he is certain this quarterback can lead White Hall where it wants to go.
“I’ve had some really good quarterbacks that’s played in the NFL, played at a major level, at a high level,” Patton said. “None’s worked harder than Wyatt. Wyatt’s work ethic is second to none. He worked all spring, didn’t miss a day. He’s been here in the summer every day. He’s always wanting to soak up every bit of information from me, and I expect big things from him.”
The Bulldogs must replace their starting running back, Kylon Davis, but bring back an all-conference receiver in Kel McEntire.
White Hall suffered a big loss on defense when all-conference linebacker Kobe Collins tore his ACL, which will force him to miss his senior season. The Bulldogs still have an all-conference defensive lineman returning in Columbus Turntine.
Patton said the Bulldogs are in better shape than last year and have some quality players, but they don’t have much depth.
“We’ve got some young kids that’s going to be good, but they’ve got some work to do,” Patton said. “They’ve got some growing up to do as far as just physically and not so much mentally. We can’t have any injuries. We gotta stay healthy this year. We gotta make sure we’re doing right in the classroom and in school. If we do, I think we’re going to have a very competitive team out there on Friday nights and give us a chance to compete and make the playoffs.”
The Bulldogs got off to a rough start last season but still went into the final game of the season at Pine Bluff with a chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2021. Instead, a 24-16 loss ended White Hall’s season.
White Hall will play a tough schedule this fall with only three conference home games, all against teams expected to be in the playoff picture, but senior defensive tackle Braylen Gaston said the team has grown up and now has better leadership from its seniors.
“I feel like we way better than last year,” Gaston said. “We got more discipline. We listen more to the coaches, and we don’t complain as much as we did last year.”