10 TEXTS WITH HAR-BER WILDCATS 1ST YEAR FOOTBALL HEAD COACH BRENT ECKLEY
By Don Lowe | Photo by Mark Strickland Photos
Har-Ber Wildcats 1st Year Senior High Football Head Coach Brent Eckley takes the helm here after developing a championship-caliber program at Jackson, MO High School. Coach Eckley’s Jackson squads were in the Top 10 final rankings for Class 5 eight of his 11 years there. Along with his work at Jackson, Coach Eckley previously served as the football head coach and PE instructor at Montgomery County High School in Montgomery City, MO; offensive coordinator, strength and conditioning coordinator and elementary teacher with Warrensburg School District in Warrensburg, MO; and assistant football coach and elementary school teacher with Hickman Mills School District in Kansas City, MO. Coach Eckley comes to the Wildcats with a 203-59 overall record, one state championship, one runner-up finish, 18 playoff appearances, 16 district titles and 15 conference crowns. He was inducted into the Missouri Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2022. Coach Eckley has a Bachelor of Science in elementary education from William Penn University (Oskaloosa, IA), and a Master of Education in Administration from William Woods University (Fulton, MO). As for his life away from football, family takes center stage as Eckley and his wife, Sherene, have been married for 32 years. The Eckleys children include daughter, Hannah Frazier, 31 years old, and her husband, Collin, along with their children Payson and Ellis and another one due in November; daughter, Emily Eckley-Celeslie, 29 years old, and her husband Jack who anticipated the birth of their first child in August; daughter, Madison Shilling, 27 years old, and her husband, Josh, along with their children Ember and Nova; Hillary Eckley, 21 years old, and in college; and son Marquis Eckley, 19 years old, and working.
10 TEXT Q&A
Where were you born and raised?
I grew up on a farm in Southeast Iowa.
What sports did you play in high school?
I played football and basketball and ran track.
When did you know you wanted to be a high school football head coach?
The clear moment was when I was out of college for a couple years and working in sales but not motivated or happy. My brother asked me what I’d do if I didn’t need to make money to do it. The answer was coaching, and after playing in college, coaching football seemed like the best choice.
Who has been your greatest influence in football?
My high school head coach, Tom Stone Pekin, of Packwood. Ken Leonard at Sacred Heart Griffin High School in Springfield, IL. Rick Jones, formerly at Greenwood, AR and now an assistant coach at the University of Missouri. I’d add many coaching friends, including a lot of assistant coaches I’ve worked with over the years.
What has been your greatest coaching challenge in the last few years?
This transition has been huge. I was the head coach at Jackson, MO, the best football job in Missouri. Switching states, learning new calendars, new expectations, etc. The coaching challenge is to retain players while asking them to do more work and committing more than their friends that don’t do football. It’s so easy and acceptable to quit things that aren’t easy. It’s difficult to be great at something if you aren’t committed to it and if you don’t work hard at it or if you aren’t passionate about it.
What is your coaching and leadership philosophy?
I coach to help young men mature, grow up, be responsible, be tough and unselfish. I hope those I coach are encouraged and feel they are held accountable to be the best version of themselves. Our sport demands hard things from participants. I get to see this development and maturity every day. My style and philosophy is to create more leaders. I’m good at delegating. I want our coaches and players to help pull on the rope. There are so many things they can do better than me. I just give them tasks and let them take off with it. The more shared ownership/responsibility, the better.
When you are not coaching football, what are some things you enjoy doing for fun, leisure, and relaxation?
Watching film and planning on coaching football. I enjoy spending time with my wife, watching movies and traveling (but not too far).
What is your advice to a young coach starting their career right out of college?
Volunteer first. Learn, listen, love the kids, and love the process. The job you want, i.e., head coach or coordinator, you must do the work of that job before you get hired for it. Then you are prepared to be successful.
What is your favorite football sports movie?
I think baseball owns the best sports movies. I like the Rookie, Money Ball, Trouble with the Curve. But I think the best is For Love of the Game. And most quotable would be Major League or Bull Durham.
What is your favorite food?
It’d be easier to list what I don’t like. But I love pizza and Chicago-style is my favorite. I love wings, burgers, pasta. I could go on and on.