Jack Wright begins his second season as the head coach for the Northwest football program in 2015. Wright was named the 29th head coach in the program’s 86-year history on Nov. 11, 2013, and is also the third-youngest at 37-years-old.
In his first season at the helm in 2014, Wright led the Rangers to a 4-6 overall record and a 4-2 mark in the MACJC North Division. The second place division finish earned Northwest its 25th playoff berth in the last 33 seaons.Â
Wright spent the 2013 season as the offensive line coach at Holmes, but prior to that stint, the Batesville native was the Rangers’ offensive coordinator from 2008-12. While serving on Ricky Woods’ staff, Wright guided one of the most prolific offenses in the nation during the five-year stretch. Northwest ranked in the Top 5 in the country in total offense at 434.1 ypg in 2012 (3rd in the NJCAA) and 485.4 ypg in 2011 (5th).
Since his arrival in 2008, Northwest nearly doubled its scoring and gained close to 150 yards more per game. The most significant improvement was in the running game, where the Rangers averaged 196.6 ypg in 2012 and 205.5 ypg in 2011, which ranked second in the state behind Mississippi Gulf Coast and sixth in single-season school history.
The Ranger offense ranked in the Top 25 nationally in each of Wright’s previous five seasons and made a steady climb from 22nd in 2008 up to third in 2012. Northwest led the country in 2009 in both passing yards/game (323.0) and touchdown passes (27), with standout quarterback Casey Weston being named a top MACJC Offensive Performer eight times and breakout receiver Michael Lindsey earning NJCAA First Team All-American recognition.
All told, Wright has had the privilege of coaching 30 All-MACJC selections in his time at Northwest, including nine NJCAA All-Region 23 selections and six NJCAA All-Americans.
Prior to Northwest, Wright was at NCAA Division III Millsaps College, where he was the offensive line coach, run-game coordinator and strength coach from 2005-07. Wright’s presence at Millsaps helped turn around a program that won only two games in 2005 and went on to win back-to-back Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships his final two seasons, including the program’s first playoff berth in 31 years.
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He was part leader of a Millsaps offense that averaged 39.7 points and 458 yards per game in 2007 and led the conference in nearly every offensive category. A season earlier under Wright, the Majors’ offensive line gave up a league-best seven sacks in 10 games which ranked fifth nationally out of 229 teams.
Prior to Millsaps, Wright was the offensive line coach and power lifting coach at Meridian High School from 2002-04. Under Wright, Meridian produced four 1,000-yard rushers in three seasons and improved from 3-8 in 2002 to 8-4 in 2003 and 11-2 in 2004. Wright also spent one season at North Delta Academy in 2001.
Wright earned his bachelor’s in management information systems in 1999 from Arkansas State University and went on to obtain his master’s in business administration in 2001. He started all four seasons for the Indians at deep snapper and center from 1997-2000.
Wright is married to the former Brooke Lummus of Batesville and the two celebrated their six-year wedding anniversary in February of 2015. They have a 4-year-old son, Mason James Wright, and a 7-month old daughter, Anne Elise.
