Thacker named 8-Man Coach of the Year
HARDIN – Kirk Thacker received a surprise over the winter.
Thacker was named the KMZU Football Dream Team’s Coach of the Year for 8-man football. The 1987 Richmond High School graduate coached Norborne Hardin-Central’s varsity co-op program to a 6-4 campaign in 2020, including a win and then a loss by forfeit because of COVID in the District 2 Tournament.
“We thought we might win two games,” Thacker, who also is Hardin-Central’s varsity track and field coach, said Monday in the Hardin-Central gym after the Bulldogs’ first day of track practice. “The rest of the coaches (who voted) thought so as well. We ended up winning six games, which was – I won’t say completely shocking to me. … Those boys worked hard. They worked hard for me.”
It was Thacker’s fourth time to receive the peer-determined award, he said. The last time his colleagues chose him was in 2011.
“I never thought I would win another one,” Thacker said. “So that was something special.”
Although Thacker was “very…