Bryant ready to make Rams winners

Jim Bob Bryant made the Rams at Greene Central winners.

Now, he is looking to bring back winning ways to another set of Rams, the Rams at Havelock High School.

Bryant was formally introduced as the school’s new head football coach at a Monday afternoon press conference at the school.

“I’m really excited to be here,” said Bryant.

Bryant, 35, went 42-21 in five seasons at Greene Central, which has been predominantly known as a baseball school. Yet, Bryant managed to win two conference championships at the 2A school and was named the youngest Shrine Bowl assistant coach ever.

He cited the chance to move up in classification to coach at 3A Havelock and the school’s football tradition as two main reasons for taking the job.

“It was a very easy decision,” he said. “I think in the east, next to a (Greenville) Rose, or West Craven or New Bern, I think Havelock has just as much tradition as any of those schools, and we hope to get them back on the winning track.”

Havelock has had three straight losing seasons, including a 3-8 record last year under Charlie Smith. Smith, who is also the school’s head baseball coach and athletic director, agreed to step down as football coach in December after coaching four seasons, one of which was a playoff year.

Smith was involved in the hiring process and said Bryant came highly recommended. Both have ties to Martin County and Williamston High School.

“We heard a lot of positive things from a lot of people,” Smith said. “I’m real happy.”

Bryant said he would bring his spread offense to Havelock, where a quarterback often lines up in the shotgun formation and has the option to run or throw. He said the offense wasn’t that dissimilar from what Smith was running last year.

“The spread offense I run is a little bit different from what most anyone else in the area runs,” he said. “But, probably the biggest difference is going to be the terminology. I’ll try and work with the coaches already on staff to try to get as much of the terminology synchronized as we can to make the learning curve a lot easier for the kids.”

Bryant said he had a chance to talk briefly to Havelock’s returning football players.

“I told them that it’s not going to be an ‘I’ thing or a ‘me’ thing. It’s going to be a ‘we’ thing,” Bryant said.

Bryant went to Guilford College in Greensboro and completed his education at East Carolina University.

He was an assistant football coach at Williamston High School, helping the Tigers reach the state 1A championship game in 2001 and 2002.

Bryant also received the Governor’s Award for Bravery and Heroism after rescuing two people from rip currents at Atlantic Beach when he was a sophomore in high school.

Havelock Principal Jeff Murphy said the school received more than 50 applications for the head coaching job, but Bryant stood out.

“We were looking for someone with head coaching experience and somebody who understood eastern North Carolina,” Murphy said. “We got both of those with Coach Bryant. We talked to some really good coaches, but I think we’ve got the right man.”