MA grad new coach at Delta

Wesley Harris is taking a rapid step up the coaching ladder.

After one year as an assistant at his alma mater, Marshall Academy, he has been named the head football coach at Delta Academy. He was hired by Craig Dailey, the new headmaster in Marks.

“It’s rare to get a headcoaching offer so quickly,” Harris said. “It’s something special.

“I played basketball for Coach Dailey (at Marshall), and when we talked and he offered me the job, I took it.

“I was unsure about leaving my home school, but I felt this was an opportunity I might not get again.

“I feel I’m ready, and I’m excited about running a program the way I want to run it.” Harris, 31, is a 2008 graduate of Marshall Academy. His senior year he played football for head coach Keith Wicker. The Patriots finished 12-2 and state runners-up. Harris played in the all-star football game and was named first team all-state. He was also a member of an MA baseball team that finished 22-8 and second in the state.

“Coach Wicker had a great impact on my life,” he said. “He didn’t have to demand respect; he just got it. He loved the kids who played for him, and that’s why he got the most out of us. We performed for him.”

Wicker died in 2011 after a brief illness.

“I wish he was alive so I could tell him `thank you,’” Harris said.

There have been a couple of other huge influences. His father Larry coached him as a youth.

“I saw the impact my dad had on young people’s lives who played for him ­ not only on the field but off the field,” Harris said. “The love and respect he got from kids was paramount. I have always admired that since I was a little leaguer.”

Harris, even though he took a different route initially in the working world, said coaching is in his heart.

“I knew I wanted to be a coach since I was 10 years old,” he said. “I went to work, but down deep I really wanted to do what I had always wanted to do. You know what they say, `you’re not working if you’re doing what you love.’”

He went back to school and got his bachelor’s degree. And recently, he also received his public school teaching certification.

In his year at Marshall, another big influence was head baseball coach and athletic director Bruce Branch.

“Coach Branch took me under his wing more than anybody,” Harris said. “I learned more in one year from him than I could have learned from anyone else. He’s such a good person to seek advice from. And his baseball program is just one big family — that’s the type of atmosphere I want to create.”

The new head coach at Delta lives near Oxford with his wife Destany and their four children — Brayden Oswalt, Cohen Harris, Cruz Harris and LauraLee Harris.

He’s already traveling to Marks and working with his Raiders, who play eight-man football in the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools.

“We’ve been lifting weights, and we’ll be playing some seven-on-seven,” Harris said. “We will go up against some bigger schools, but that will test us and make us work harder. Being exposed to superior talent will only make us better.”

He said eight-man football is not a whole lot different than 11-man, except for the number of players a team can have on the line and in the backfield.

“We hope to spread it out

and throw the football around,” Harris said. “But mainly I want to put my best players in positions to go oneon-one and let them go to work.”

Delta Academy will compete in District 1-1A versus Lee Academy (Ark.), West Memphis Christian (Ark.), DeSoto School (Ark.) and Hebron Christian.

Harris will make his headcoaching debut on August 20 at home against North Sunflower Academy.

Dailey, Harris’ new boss, said, “Wesley is one of the greatest competitors I have ever coached. He has been training since high school to fill this role. We are extremely lucky to have him. He will do a tremendous job.”