Thacker preps ’Cats for emotionally charged meeting with NHC
If Orrick varsity 8-man football coach Kirk Thacker had his say, his undefeated Bearcats wouldn’t play Norborne Hardin-Central (NHC) Friday night at Norborne.
Or any day or night of the week. Or anywhere. Not while Thacker’s coaching at Orrick.
Now in his second season at Orrick, the 1987 Richmond High School graduate led the varsity 8-man program at Hardin-Central and then the Norborne Hardin-Central co-op program. He was planning to eventually retire from Hardin-Central, where he was teaching, before a family tragedy influenced him to switch school districts.
“Very happy with my team and where I’m at now, but … I shouldn’t be here,” Thacker said. “I should be over there. I coached all those boys and … they’re still in my heart, and I still root for them every game.
“And … as I said last year, it’s a nowin situation for me, either way. If I beat my old team or I get beat by my old team, it’s just not a good situation for me.”
Regardless of the outcome, Thacker knows the Aggies…