As noted on ArkansasVarsity.com nearly two weeks ago, Brad Bolding will be on the sidelines as a head coach in 2017 for the Little Rock Parkview Patriots.
Bolding spoke with ArkansasVarsity.com to discuss his new job, his plans for the program, and more.
“They gave me the call about a week ago, I just couldn’t announce it,” said Bolding. “They gave me the green light to go ahead and make that announcement today. I don’t know if there will be an official announcement or not, I don’t know how the Little Rock school district works on that, but that is how it went down.”
The Patriots only won one game in 2016 and Bolding knows there is an uphill battle to build the program. He spoke about the first order of business for him as head coach.
“I’m going to be working over the Christmas break, so that is going to give me an indicator of where we’re at,” said Bolding. “I’m going to watch all of their games from this past year once they set me up on the HUDL account. I think the big thing is meeting with the coaches. I will probably do that when we get back to school over the next couple of weeks.”
Bolding will have to make a few hires as well.
“I have to hire three coaches, and I’ve got to figure out the positions and teaching fields,” said Bolding. “I’ve had a few big coaches reach out to me; some really good ones that are interested in coming and getting on board.”
He spoke about how he will approach the players currently on the team as well.
“As far as the players go it is going to be a daily process,” said Bolding. “We probably won’t overwhelm them at first with too much stuff as far as the philosophy, but I think they will be overwhelmed with the physicality and the mental approach we will take. That will take a little bit of an adjustment and getting used to.”
Bolding said he wants to build a solid foundation and build the program at Parkview.
“Something that my brother (Pine Bluff head coach Bobby Bolding) and I both really try to spend a lot of time focusing on the foundation, and building the strongest foundation that we can,” he said. “When we get rolling, we want it to keep rolling. Even some of the programs we have left keep rolling when they get the right guy in there, so that is important to me. They have been down for so long, and this is a great opportunity and a great challenge to turn around a traditionally rich program.”
Bolding has experience rebuilding programs. His last job at North Little Rock is one that he helped to rebuild. He spoke about some of the things he learned at North Little Rock that he will be able to use at Parkview.
“North Little Rock was a little bit unique in the fact that when I came in I was the lone soldier,” said Bolding. “I came in by myself and four of the coaches were on the staff. There was no moving anyone around, that was the staff that I had. In my last few years there they ended up being a great staff. There were a lot of hurdles that I had to overcome and I just kept plugging away. That is my mentality. I just have to work through it. I’ve also learned how important communication is. That is something they will probably get tired of me with, when we tell the administration what we are doing and how we are doing it. I will be dotting my I’s and crossing my T’s.”
Bolding said he will focus on earning the respect of the players on his squad as well.
“I’ve got to earn my respect from the coaches and the players,” Bolding continued. “That is something you have to do, especially with the kids. It’s not the old days where you walk in as the new football coach and they automatically respect you, it’s a different landscape with football now.”
He spoke about the style of offense and defense he hopes to run at Parkview as well.
“I will definitely evaluate players. My ultimate goal offensively is having a guy who can run and can throw,” said Bolding. “If you watch the state title games the last couple of years, if you are one-sided at quarterback, very rarely are you going to win it. You have to be as close to 50-50 as you can be. I like a good physical quarterback a lot like Ladarius Skelton a couple of years ago at Pine Bluff; a guy that can run and physically take a hit. Offensively we will build around our quarterback’s strengths and weaknesses.”
“Defensively I’ve always been a 4-4 guy,” Bolding continued. “But I’m one of those that if I get the right hire or someone on staff that I feel comfortable with, I’m not opposed to letting them run the show as long as they can convince me that they know what they are doing. In my first year at Mayflower I ran both the offense and defense, so I’m not opposed to that either.”
Finally, Bolding spoke about his goals for the Patriots in year one.
“There’s a lot of things you have to get implemented and it’s always a process that takes time,” said Bolding. “I always go back to my first year at North Little Rock, and my brother’s first year at Pine Bluff. He was 2-8 and I was 3-7. Am I going to embrace winning? Absolutely if it happens in the first year, but if we are going to win, we are going to win exactly the way you are supposed to win. We’re not going to deviate from my philosophy, my beliefs, or the process. There will be quite a few goals before them. I don’t know what they have had in the past as far as goals go, but it is going to be something that could possibly new to them, and it will be very challenging. We’re just going to tackle it day by day, and that process is hour by hour.”
Below is a video interview done with Brad Bolding 10 days ago regarding him getting a new job.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are not an ArkansasVarsity.com subscriber, you can become one by CLICKING HERE. It costs less than a cup of coffee per day to get access to the most in prep sports and recruiting information anywhere in the state.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @LUKEMATHESON - @ARKANSASVARSITY -@ARPOWERPOLL
