Former Coach Regrets How He Treated Hunter Henry in High School
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A recent interview former Arkansas tight end turned NFL star Hunter Henry did with ex-Razorbacks Austin Allen and Brooks Ellis has former Pulaski Academy coaching legend Kevin Kelley expressing regret over how he treated the tight end during his high school days.
"Honestly, I pushed too hard, most of any player I have coached," Kelley wrote on X (Twitter) Thursday. "I wanted to push him, but not to that point.”
"That point" was feeling like his coach hated him and wanting to potentially give up on the sport all together.
"In the time I was in it, it sucked," Henry said. "I hated it, bro. I would go home every day and talk to my dad and be like 'I am so tired of this. I love doing this and I love playing, but he hates me. This dude hates me.’"
Henry said things got worse as his recruiting prospects increased.
"Coach Kelley, he was hard on everybody, but through the years when I was going through high school, he was just extra hard on me," Henry said. "And then I started getting recruited and it just got even more, and he just saw something that he could bring out.”
Still, that feeling of hatred was one Henry couldn't shake no matter how hard he tried. Instead, he did his best to play his way out of the negative spotlight.
"I'm ballin'," Henry said. "Eleven hundred yards in a year. I'm scoring like 18 touchdowns in a year. I'm killin' it, right? But he's just so hard on me in practice, games and all the time. I just felt like I could never please him in a way, but he was pushing me ... continuing to push me even more.”
Pushing players to be their best was a part of who Kelley was at the time. He had an elite program at the Little Rock area private school and wanted his athletes to achieve their highest possible potential. However, he now sees something was missing that he wants to make sure is present during his time at Kelley's latest stop as Sheridan's head coach.
"Most recruited [player] I've ever coached," Kelley said. "Amazing talent and person. As a kid, him thinking I didn't love him, even at times, means I left a big part out that needed in. I learned a lot from that.”
It was Henry's effort to win his coach's love that made him one of the biggest stars in Arkansas high school history and set the stage for a big future both in the SEC and the NFL.
"That culture, I think I responded in a lot of ways," Henry said. "Alright, you're going to be hard on me, [then] I'm gonna go show you. I'm gonna go put up 100 yards and two touchdowns.”
Still, even though it generated so much success, it haunts Kelley after all these years.
"He was always going be successful, push through everything, and a great man," Kelley said. "That's who he is. I pray about my coaching of kids every day and should have prayed harder with him because the situation was different. Coaches [should] learn from my mistakes and others. Coach as you will, but make sure they know you'd do anything for them!"
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KENT SMITH
Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments.