On Monday, January 9th Waldron’s head football coach, Doug Powell, resigned. Powell’s overall record with the program was 8-19 with a 2-15 conference record during his three-year tenure. Only one former Waldron coach since 2007 has finished their Bulldog career with a better overall record. Averaging 2.3 wins per season, Powell was just a hair under Waldron’s 2.6 wins per season average over the past 22 years.
In Powell’s 2020 inaugural season, the Bulldogs finished with a 4-5 overall record which was the best record achieved by Waldron since 2017. To top things off, the Bulldogs secured a playoff berth in 2020. Unfortunately, Waldron’s playoff hopes were dashed due to COVID issues, but they still earned their spot. That season saw the Bulldogs convincingly beat Gentry, Atkins, and Dover while also achieving a 41-0 blowout win over their Scott County rivals, the Mansfield Tigers. There was also the 2020 thriller against Mena where the Bulldogs narrowly fell 28-22 in the last minutes of the game.
The program looked to be improving as year one came to a close but low roster numbers, continued COVID protocols, and injuries riddled the Bulldogs in Powell’s second year leading to a 2-7 record. Then in 2022, Waldron was shuffled into a new conference with the AAA realignment. This pitted the Bulldogs against what many called one of the toughest conferences in the entire 4A. The new 4A-7 consisted of the eventual 2022 State Champions Malvern, two semifinalists in Nashville & Arkadelphia, a second-round playoff team from Ashdown, and a first-round playoff team in Mena. Although Waldron gave it their best, they fell 0-5 in conference play and finished with an overall record of 2-7 in 2022.
Even after dealing with the pandemic, injuries, new conferences, and a rebuilding process, Doug Powell showed that the Bulldogs program will always be ready to compete. According to Powell, there is a lot of talent and depth at Waldron’s disposal in upcoming years which bodes well for the Bulldog faithful. Whoever Waldron selects as Powell’s successor, they will have a good solid foundation already laid out and set before them.
