Coach Dunbar walks away from football for family

MARKSVILLE, La. (KALB) - Coach JT Dunbar has been coaching for 30 years, and for 20 of them, he was the head coach of the Marksville Tigers. But, he said it was time to hang up the whistle for now.

“You know about two years ago I talked to my principal, and I knew this was going to be year 30 for me, so it would be a good time to go. It’s just one of those situations. I have graduated from here, and I have been here my entire coaching career. I feel that we reached a point where, individually, I did everything I can do for this program,” said Coach Dunbar.

This season started off without Coach Dunbar on the sideline because of his health. But, the decision to walk away has nothing to do with anything affecting his body.

“I made this decision two years ago so I can’t really blame it on a health situation, you know we had a little scare earlier in the year. It just contributed to a lot of stress, and I just put an awful lot into this job. It puts pressure and stress on myself”, said Dunbar.

Coach Dunbar is walking away from the game, but the important memories he had have nothing to do in between those white lines. It has to do with how he helped coach his young guys to be better men.

“A lot of guys have struggled when they first get here as seventh and eighth-graders, but when they get to their senior year, you see growth. And now they have become successful husbands and fathers. I’m going to miss seeing the maturity of these kids the most,” said JT.

Now Coach Dunbar will have more time to spend with his loved ones.

“For me to see the other side, enjoy my daughter and the rest of my family, that’s very important to me. My daughter is in the 10th grade now, and I have my first grandchild on the way as well. Just spending a little time away from football right now is a good opportunity for me to be around a lot more,” said Dunbar

He is ready to watch his little princess from the stands and cheer her on the same way she did for him when he was coaching.

“My daughter only has a couple of years left in high school. Her goal is to play college tennis and I want to be a part of that and be able to follow her around a little bit more as she did for me when I was a coach,” said Coach Dunbar.

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