Dixie Wooten had all of the accolades.
He turned a 4-12 franchise into a 13-3 team during his first year in Des Moines, which earned him the 2017 Coach of the Year award.
He lead the Iowa Barnstormers to their first ever championship… while winning his second coach of the year award in the process.
Dixie Wooten confirms return to Iowa Barnstormers
All signs point to greatness for Wooten, so it isn’t too far fetched to think that the coach might look at college positions and try to move up a bit after the success he has had.
Although Wooten made it known on Thursday that there would be none of that happening.
Wooten announced that he would be back, coaching the Barnstormers again during the 2019 season.
Even though a championship victory might give Wooten a bigger incentive to keep this roster close to the same in 2019, there is no guarantees with him.
After going 13-3 in 2017, Wooten cleaned house, only bringing back five regular starters from the 25-man team.
It looked crazy at first, but it’s clear to see that the idealistically insane method works.
If there was one player that might be all but guaranteed to return, it would be the United Bowl MVP in Ryan Balentine.
Balentine has played on a team that included Wooten on the coaching staff for each of the past five seasons, and has become one of the best wide-outs in the league.
When asked if he would be up for a reunion tour with Wooten if the opportunity presented itself, Balentine had a simple answer.
“You know I am,” Balentine said.
The Iowa Barnstormers will kick off the 2019 IFL season next February in what the league hopes to be a new-look, bigger set of teams to take the field.
While the schedule wont come out until late this year, the news of Wooten returning should have Barnstormer and indoor fans alike jumping for joy.
