Baker replaces Baker as new Hooper football coach

Dusty Baker was named as the new head football coach at Hooper Academy. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Hooper Academy head of school Darryl Free officially announced Dusty Baker as the school’s new head football coach on Wednesday, but Baker has been hard at work since learning of his promotion a couple of weeks ago.

“My plan is to bring the energy back and try to get these kids motivated to play football again,” Baker said. “There are four things that I want to focus on -- discipline, accountability, physicality and numbers.

“With the discipline, I want us to learn that the little things matter. I want us to learn accountability with ourselves and accountability for each other. We can’t skip out on things, we’ve got to be present, got to be willing to work for what we want to achieve. I want them to learn to love the weight room. We’ve got to get stronger, we’ve got to get bigger. The last thing is the numbers and I’ve talked to every boy in this school so far and I’m trying my best to get everyone of them out there on the football field. That’s our biggest downfall right now, the lack of numbers.”

 Baker, who has served the last two years as athletic director and assistant head of school, realizes that promoting the school and its athletic program -- a program that has been a championship contender in volleyball, softball and boys basketball the last couple of years -- is the best way to increase enrollment and build depth on a football team that is necessary to be a postseason contender.  

“We practiced the last three weeks of (2024 football) practice with less than 16 players,” Baker said. “That makes it hard to get any kind of look at what we’re facing with a scout team. Being physical in practice, it limits that ability. So I want numbers so that it creates competition.

“I am bringing up our former JV coach, Blake Walters, to be the offensive coordinator for me. I think the kids relate to him very well, so I hope that helps with the energy. But, yes, we’re going to have to go out and get some football players. We just don’t have enough kids in our school right now to make us very competitive. So we have to find some guys to come in and fit into the Hooper family and do things the right way. If we can get five or six players in here, that will start the process of becoming a better football team.”

Free said former coach Marty Baker, Dusty’s older brother, announced his desire to step down from the head coaching position and when names were discussed as the search for a replacement was formalized, Dusty Baker stepped forward and said he was interested in the position.

“I am really thankful to our Board of Trustees for their support and efforts that made this search a seamless process,” Free said. “We explored options of hiring externally but after short discussions we quickly saw that our best candidate was internal. Dusty Baker is a man of great character and integrity. His fire and passion mixed with his knowledge of the game made the selection very easy. We look forward to Coach Baker leading the program and are excited to see what the future holds for Hooper Academy football.”

Baker, who served as an assistant coach on his brother’s coaching staff as well as the head baseball coach, said it was an easy decision.

“We were presented with going out and trying to find somebody to coach or hiring from within,” he said. “I told Coach Free that I would love to have the opportunity and through the course of talking to our Board and our athletic committee, they decided that would be the direction we went in, to hire me as the head football coach. And I gradly accepted.”

Marty Baker, a Hooper graduate, coached the Colts for the last five seasons, reaching the state playoffs twice. He will remain on the football staff as a position coach. Free said the school will explore future openings at the school in an effort to add one or two additional assistant coaches.

Free was presented with the option of promoting Baker and keeping his brother or bringing in a new coach and a different set of assistant coaches.

“When we looked at all our possibilities, Dusty was the obvious choice for me,” Free said. “I sat down with Coach Baker and got his vision and what he wanted to do with the program and I really liked what I heard. Dusty is invaluable to our school and what he brings to the table with the young men and women inside of our school, even outside of athletics, teaching them life’s lessons and the role model that he is. When I found out that he had interest in the position, I felt there was no need to even post it, especially after we sat down and heard his vision and things that he would like to change and where he wants to take the program. I think that we’re in great hands with Dusty and I think he’s going to do a great job.”

Baker, a 1993 graduate of Trinity Presbyterian School, coached primarily at the middle school levels in Montgomery before joining Hooper. He started his career at Floyd Junior High (1993 and 1994) before moving back to his alma mater, Trinity, in 1995. He then started a 25-year career at Brewbaker Middle School (1996-2020) before joining the Colts.

Baker, who plans to serve as the Colts’ defensive coordinator in addition to his head coaching duties, has never held a head coaching position in football at the high school level.

“Football is football,” Free said, “and so much of it is outside of Xs and Os. It comes in how you teach these young men accountability and discipline, something I feel is needed more every year. I think he’s going to put a staff around him that is going to give him a chance to be successful. The one thing I know for sure about Dusty Baker is he’s going to hit the ground running. He’s a fiery coach that’s going to do things the right way and he’s going to teach these young men about life. I think that’s where it starts, doing things the right way, and success seems to follow that.”