Walton Principal Russell Hughes sounded like a man who had something up his sleeve.

After weeks of playing his school’s search for its next athletic director and head football coach as close to  the vest as possible, Hughes announced on Tuesday that he had settled on one – well-known – name: Jimmy Ray Stephens.

“It’s amazing,” Hughes said. “It was a very tough decision, but to be able to bring somebody in at this point that has his credentials I think will do a lot for our program, our students and our community.”

Ah yes, about those “credentials.”

Most around here already know a great deal about Stephens. In 1990 he arrived at Fort Walton Beach High School to take over a Vikings program that had floundered the previous season, going 3-7. In ’90, Stephens led the Vikings to an 8-2 finish.

The next season, Fort Walton Beach went 14-0 and captured the Class 4A state title. FWB went 8-2 in ’92 before Stephens, a former offensive lineman at the University of Florida, returned to Gainesville as an assistant coach on Steve Spurrier’s staff.

But prior to his turn at FWB, Stephens turned in an impressive three-year stint at Williston High School.

Williston had gone 0-10 in ’86 and was mired in a 16-game losing streak when Stephens arrived in ’87.

In his first season, Stephens guided Williston to a 10-1 record in which they were crowned the Florida Classic Bowl Champions. The Gainesville Sun and Ocala Star Banner each named Stephens its coach of the year.

Hughes’ recommendation will be voted on during the Walton County School Board’s next meeting, so nothing is official just yet. But should it pass and Stephens become the Braves next athletic director and head football coach, the school will land an individual who has shown a knack for the quick turnaround.

Walton, remember, went 0-10 last season.

“A challenge like this will be fun,” Stephenson said. “To put a staff together and develop a team, to come up with an offesne and a defense that fits the personnel, it brings about more creative juices that I haven’t experienced coaching the offensive line.”

Not surprisingly, Stephens, who had spent the previous six years as the OL coach at Middle Tennessee State University, said the opportunity to return to the area was one major factor in his interest in the Walton opening.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt,” Stephens said. “I lvoed the three years I spent at Fort Walton Beach. I’ve got the greatest memories of my life there. I’ve got a lot of friends in Okaloosa County and around that area. I believe that  Okaloosa County and Walton County are two of the top counties in the state for high school football.

“I like the community a lot there in DeFuniak.”

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