White Hall hires Daryl Patton as head football coach

Patton started the Little Rock Southwest program and has been there four seasons

White Hall approved the hiring of Daryl Patton as its new football coach in a special school board meeting Friday. 

Patton, who won four state championships at Fayetteville, has been the head coach at Little Rock Southwest since 2020, when he became the Gryphons' inaugural coach of the startup program. Southwest was 6-31 in four seasons under Patton, including a 2-8 record last fall. The Gryphon’s lone 7A-Central Conference win came against winless Little Rock Central. 

White Hall endured a tough season playing without its head coach Ryan Mallett, the former University Arkansas star QB and NFL backup, after he drowned off the coast of Florida last summer while on vacation. Jason Mitchell served as the Bulldogs’ interim head coach during a 4-6 campaign.

Patton came to Bauxite, where he coached from 2016-19. His best run was at Fayetteville, where he went 116-43-2 from 2003-15 and won the four state championships, including one in his final season before resigning abruptly.

Patton, who was just inducted into the Bryant High School Sports Hall of Fame, coached his alma mater Hornets from 1998-2002.