Former Arlington Heights baseball coach accepts assistant job at FW Southwest Christian

By Jarret Johnson

jmjohnson@star-telegram.com

Tommy Elliott didn't stay retired long.

The Fort Worth icon stepped down from his head baseball coach and teacher positions at Fort Worth Arlington Heights in May after 30 years at the school and 36 years overall at Fort Worth ISD.

In his 33 years as a head coach (three seasons at Diamond Hill-Jarvis) Elliott, 58, amassed 726 victories, claimed one state title in 1996 and led the Yellow Jackets to four additional trips to the state tournament.

After previously stating that he wanted to take at least one year off from coaching, Elliot has accepted an assistant coaching and part-time teaching position at Fort Worth Southwest Christian.

Shane Naterman, the Southwest Christian interim baseball coach at the time and current high school principal, approached Elliott about the jobs.

"My intentions were when I retired from Fort Worth was that I was going to take at least a year off and see what it was like on the other side of the fence," Elliott said. "But Shane said, 'Tommy if you come out here, I'll make it worth your while,' and money never was the deciding factor."

Elliott will also teach off-season conditioning classes, which amounts to half-days, starting in the fall.

In the middle of it all is new head coach Jimmy Brockway, who served as an assistant last year at Southwest Christian.

He was also an assistant at North Crowley for six seasons and was briefly the head coach at Aledo before having to resign due to an illness in the family.

"Quite honestly I don't think you could ask for a better marriage," Naterman said. "This way Tommy can coach alongside Jimmy, who will handle all of the nuts and bolts of the program, while he can continue to do what he loves, which is coach baseball."

Brockway, who can remember playing against Elliott's Yellow Jackets teams as a player for Crowley, admitted that having such an accomplished assistant will be intimidating yet rewarding.

"I can't even describe what kind of an icon he is to other coaches in the state of Texas," Brockway said.

Elliott added that his new position will be a "180 degree" turnaround from what he has been accustomed to at Arlington Heights due to the size of the schools and rosters.

Brockway and Elliott inherit a young Eagles team that finished 18-13 last season and lost in the first round of the TAPPS state playoffs.

"After a year's time I might say I made a mistake or it might be the greatest thing ever," Elliot said. "I just think that when you reach a point like this, especially after spending 30 years at one place, you have to move on to a new chapter and it's going to be very interesting."

Jarret Johnson, 817-390-7760

Looking for comments?