It was a big night last evening in Paris. Many members of the Paris community packed a local restaurant, the Dari Delite, to listen to a live two hour internet broadcast introducing the Eagles new head football coach, Jeff Weaver. In front of a packed restaurant, Weaver talked Paris football and his goals and expectations for the football program.
The show was hosted by Tim Johns, owner and sportscaster of the “The Sportsbrew.net”, Eric Wells, President of the Paris Eagles Quarterback Club, and myself of the Resident Press. The show featured special call-in guests who had a personal connection to Coach Weaver at different points in his coaching career. The quests included former Greenwood Bulldogs All-State quarterback, and starting quarterback for the Arkansas Razorbacks, Tyler Wilson; former defensive coordinator at Mena High School under Coach Weaver, and now head coach of the Mena Bearcats, Craig Bentley, and former head coach of the Greenwood Bulldogs and current assistant coach for the Missouri Tigers, Rick Jones. The three guests were interviewed by yours truly, and all spoke extensively about the high respect they all have for Coach Weaver’s coaching abilities and successes, as well as his integrity, character, and ability to lead young men.
The show included interviews with the Paris football assistant coaches, administration, and information on how Paris fans can join the Eagles Quarterback Club, as well as an appeal to local businesses to get involved with sponsorship of the Club and Paris athletics. Coach Weaver, stating in-part that “You have heard my name mentioned a thousand times tonight, but it is going to take everyone in our community to build our program and to be successful.” Coach Weaver knows how to build programs, and part of his plan is to work with kids at all age levels as they move toward becoming high school athletes. It is an exciting time for the youth of the Paris community, and I predict that there are many good years ahead for our kids, our schools, and the Paris football program.
Paris will conclude spring drills next week, and the team will quickly move into summer camps and 7-on-7 tournaments to continue their off-season preparation before fall practices begin in early August. Resident Press will be at one of the final practice sessions next week, and will bring you an update on spring practice as well as more photos of the action in next week’s online edition of Resident Press and on Facebook at Paris Eagles Sports.
But for now, I would like to extend my appreciation to Eric Wells of the Paris Quarterback Club, Tim Johns for bringing the Sportsbrew to our fans all year as well as last night, and to our three very special guests who took time from their schedules to be on the show. Also, I would like to extend our special thanks to the Edwards family, owners of the Dari Delite, for allowing us to take over their dining room to host the show. Their gracious support is just one example of the great community support for the Paris schools and athletics program.
There is a lot of excitement and anticipation going into the next school year, and Resident Press will bring you all of the action from Paris volleyball who could make a state title run, Paris football who will be looking to also make a run in the playoffs, and all of the surrounding stories and backgrounds for both of these great sports!
Thanks to all of our Paris fans for reading Resident Press!
