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Ty Storey will return to Northwest Arkansas for a second straight fall when school resumes.
After a triumphant homecoming as Western Kentucky’s starting quarterback last November, the former Arkansas player has been hired as the seventh-grade head football coach at Grimsley Junior High in Bentonville, the school announced Tuesday night.
The in-state product will also coach basketball at the school, which will be in its first year and feeds into Bentonville West High School.
One of the most prolific passers in state history, Storey led Charleston to back-to-back Class 3A state titles and 29 consecutive victories to end his high school career. A four-star recruit and the No. 165 overall prospect in the Rivals150 for the Class of 2015, he signed with the Razorbacks over offers from Alabama, Auburn, Louisville and others.
Unfortunately, Storey’s career at Arkansas never quite lived up to the hype. He spent his first three years as a backup before becoming the primary starter in 2018 under new head coach Chad Morris.
Despite beginning the season as the No. 2 quarterback and flipping back and forth with Cole Kelley early on, Storey eventually established himself as QB1. He still struggled, though, completing just 57.2 percent of his passes for 1,584 yards, 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while going 0-9 as the starter.
When Morris made it clear that he intended to bring in a graduate transfer quarterback after the season, Storey opted to enter the portal and explore options for his fifth and final year of eligibility as a graduate transfer.
He landed at Western Kentucky, where he once again began the season as the backup. However, Storey became the starter in Week 4 because of an injury and never looked back, leading the Hilltoppers to an 8-2 record over their final 10 games - capped by a dramatic bowl win.
In his lone season there, Storey completed 69.9 percent of his passes for 2,567 yards, 14 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, plus added 276 yards and seven more scores on the ground. Those numbers helped him earn C-USA Newcomer of the Year honors.
The last time he was in Northwest Arkansas, Storey provided the final nail in the coffin of the Morris era by leading Western Kentucky to a dominant 45-19 win over the Razorbacks on Nov. 9. He had 290 total yards and three scores (one through the air, two on the ground) in the game. Morris - the coach that essentially ran him off a year earlier - was fired the following day.
By becoming the head coach of Grimsley Junior High in Bentonville, Storey is the third former Arkansas quarterback coaching in the area. Zak Clark and Casey Dick are the head coaches at Springdale High and Fayetteville High, respectively.
It’s also worth noting that Ryan Mallett joined the high school coaching staff at Mountain Home, a small town in northern Arkansas, last month.
