Alma’s Loughridge signs on with Siloam
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Doug Loughridge admits he wasn't done coaching.
With that mindset, he didn't have a hard time turning down Siloam Springs Athletic Director Jeff Williams when the school's football slot opened up.
Loughridge ended an 11-year Alma run (the first seven as the school's football coach and the last four as athletic director by deciding to get back to the sidelines.
"Doug and I had talked many, many times, and he never got that coaching blood out of him," Alma Assistant Superintendent Travis Biggs said. "Once that coaching blood is in you, it's never gone. He just turned 50 and down deep I believe he always knew he would coach again. Doug Loughridge is the perfect person to turn around a program that's 0-and-27."
At Siloam, he'll inherit a program that's in the midst of a 27-game losing streak. The Panthers haven't won but 18 games since 2016.
Siloam's last victory came on Sept. 17, 2021, against Pea Ridge.
“In a situation where Siloam has not been very good the last years, they’re looking for answers, and you’re able to get a guy with a lot of wins and some state championships under his belt,” Alma Football Coach Rusty Bush said. “And then there’s the administrative part. You wouldn’t think that has much to do with it, but I think it does. It’s about managing people and adults and players… it just makes him better.
“I think they (Siloam Springs) hit a home run hire.”
"With Doug, you're getting one of the best football coaches in the state, and definitely in northwest Arkansas," Loughridge's former Charleston Assistant Coach Greg Kendrick said. "He's got a passion for it; it's a win for Siloam."
Loughridge won two state titles at Charleston and compiled a 68-9 record before taking the Alma job in December of 2012. He was 48-36 as the Airedales' coach.
In the spring of 2019, when longtime Alma assistant superintendent and athletic director Dr. Mike McSpadden resigned.
"Doug and I have become close friends and have a lot of respect for each other. The first year he started (as athletic director), he wanted to learn and tried his hardest to figure out everything about it - he was such a good athletic director after his first year of learning."
In addition, Loughridge served as Alma's activities director, overseeing fine arts - choir, band, and drama.
"I think they were a little nervous when Doug came on board, but now, after he's leaving, they're going to be sad," Biggs said. "He took pride in how he took care of the girls' teams; he took pride in how he took care of the minor sports, he took pride in our community.
"He made our total athletic program better. than it was when he started."
Before coaching with Loughridge at Charleston, Kendrick signed on under former Greenwood icon Rick Jones. Between the two, Kendrick learned multiple things, from handing kids to play-calling.
"To see Rick Jones, and how he developed kids, and then to take that big-school instruction to a small school, and how Doug molded kids and mentored kids and the day-to-day aspects of being a coach... I did a lot of things as a head coach that Doug did," Kendrick said. "He'll get them (Siloam Springs) going."
"Doug said the other day, 'I'm going to be a better football coach because of my four years in administration.' He said I can see so many more avenues that I may not have seen in the past," Biggs added. "Because I had to deal with everything."