Herrin fall sports have new blood in charge. This summer, we hired a new football coach, Hunter Shockley who has previously coached for three years. This season at Herrin will be his first season as a head coach. Shockley coached for Hamilton County Senior High for one season as the JV Coach and Offensive Assistant. Then he spent two Seasons with Murphysboro as the Offensive Line Coach and JV Coach.
Continuing with his past, Shockley first picked up football at the age of nine when he went to school at Benton Middle School. Since then, he has been immersed in the sport and engulfed in all it has to offer; he later played varsity football for Benton High School from 2013-2017. Shockley stated, “I feel that football teaches interdependence (dependency on yourself as well as dependency on others) because you must have all 11 players on the field playing toward the same goal, and if even one person messes up, it can ruin the play and even ruin the game. Football is a contact sport, which can generate physical and mental toughness.”
He continued, “Football is important because nothing feels better than rallying a community together on Friday nights and working your hardest for a Herrin Tiger Victory.” Because of Coach Shockley’s love for the sport, he spent some time in college studying systems of football and methods of coaching while earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Southern Illinois University.
When he left SIU, Shockley took his first step towards coaching with an assistant coaching job at Hamilton County. Coach Shockley was asked about his goals for our Tigers this year and he stated, “My biggest goal is to move Herrin Football in the right direction, win games, compete with other teams at a high level, and give our team the best shot at a successful season. I know I can’t move mountains in my first year, but I can begin to make a difference.”
When asked “Why are you different as a coach, and how do you plan to leave your mark on the program?” He answered, “I have a hyper-organized approach to football that helps keep things in order, whether that be practices, games, or other football activities. The more organized I am, the better I can assist my players.
“Additionally, I want to spend more time with the players motivating and coaching them rather than handling non-football-related items. For example, I use a tool called Rack Coach for our weight room to organize our workouts so I can spend my time talking about lifting form and efficiency.”
Along with the new head coach Shockley, Herrin has hired a new coaching staff as well. This includes Barry Hubbard (Quarterbacks), Trent Johnson (Offensive Line and JV), Randy Lattuada (Linebackers), Trent Bennett (Varsity Assistant), and Shawn Milani (Varsity Assistant). Additionally, Herrin has returning coaches, Justin “Froggy” Johnson (Running Backs), Ryan Holland (Defensive Coordinator), Gary Dickerson (Defensive Line), and Lindell Hatley (Varsity Assistant). Your next opportunity to catch coach Shockley in action will be this Friday, September 6th, in West Frankfort at 7 p.m.
