🏈 THE FRIDAY NIGHT HOLLER PRE-SEASON REPORT 🏈

With Special Guest Reporter Ric “The Nature Boy” Flair

NEW COACH. NEW QUARTERBACK. BIGGER BEARS. SAME EXPECTATIONS.

BIG STONE GAP, VA — WOOOOOOOO!

Some football teams lose a pile of talent off a state semifinal squad, bring in a new head coach, install a new playbook and start talking about rebuilding. Not in Appalachia & Big Stone Gap.

Ric “The Nature Boy” Flair has strutted into Bullitt Park, looked around at the 2026 Union Bears and already knows what kind of place this is.

“To be the man, you gotta beat the man! And around Southwest Virginia, everybody knows you've gotta come through Bullitt Park sooner or later! WOOOO!”

Union enters 2026 with a new man holding the championship belt. Jamie Harless takes over as head coach, but he's hardly some rookie getting his first look at Friday night lights. Harless comes to Union with a 140-44 career record after leading Class 3 Lord Botetourt to 14 consecutive playoff appearances and three trips to the state championship game.

He's taking over a program that has made the playoffs every season since Union High School came into existence. That's a pretty good marriage of expectations.

“Fourteen straight playoff appearances? Three state championship games? That's not a résumé, baby. That's a championship belt! WOOOO!”

🎤 THE NEW MAN BEHIND CENTER

If these Bears are going to make another run deep into November, one of the biggest questions will be at quarterback. Senior Abe Hall, 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, finally gets his opportunity after spending the last three seasons behind former Union standouts Reyshawn Anderson and Kam Bostic.

That's a little like sitting in the dressing room waiting behind Dusty Rhodes and Ricky Steamboat. Sooner or later, though, they ring the bell and call your name.

Hall says the transition into Harless' new offense has gone well.

“It’s going really well. Coach Harless has high expectations, but he knows what he’s talking about and he’s made football very understandable. I feel like we have a chance of being a really good football team.”

Three years is a long time to wait for your shot, but now the lights are on, the crowd will be packed and Hall gets the microphone.

“That's when you find out whether you're ready for the main event! WOOOO!”

💪 THESE BEARS HAVE BEEN EATING

Union's offense will feature a power running game utilizing an H-back, which sounds mighty familiar to folks around Bullitt Park. Run the football, control the line and make the other fellow wish he'd taken up baseball or golf.

If you're planning on standing in front of that Union offensive line this fall, you might want to eat an extra helping at supper. The Bears have reportedly added about 20 pounds per player on average through the school's weightlifting program.

Offensive guard Bayley Sturgill has added 55 pounds since last season ended, and the offensive line now averages just under 250 pounds.

Fifty-five pounds will get the Nature Boy's attention.

“WOOOO! That's not putting on weight, baby. That's moving up a whole wrestling division! You line up across from that and you'd better tighten your boots, say your prayers and hope your insurance is paid up!”

🐻 SAME BEAR DEFENSE, A FEW NEW CLAWS

There will be changes defensively, but Union isn't throwing away the recipe that helped build one of Southwest Virginia's most consistent football programs. One important reason is continuity, with much of the previous coaching staff remaining, including defensive coordinator Jay Edwards.

Harless said Union's defense will use plenty of deception and movement, with only about a 10-to-15 percent difference from what Edwards has done in previous seasons.

“Defensively we will have a lot of deception and movement. What Coach Edwards has done in the past is very similar, there is probably a 10-to-15 percent difference in what we will do.”

In other words, don't expect the Bears to suddenly start playing touch football.

“Ten or fifteen percent different? That's just putting a new robe on the Nature Boy! Underneath it, I'm still Ric Flair! WOOOO!”

🔔 AND LOOK AT THIS SCHEDULE

Nobody slipped Union an easy card for 2026. The Bears face Mountain 7 opponents Gate City, Ridgeview, Abingdon and Lee, along with perennial state championship contender Graham. Then add Lebanon and Tazewell, both playoff teams a year ago, and just for good measure Union travels across the state line to face Class 5A Daniel Boone of Tennessee.

That's not much of a football schedule. That's Starrcade.

Week after week, somebody else will be climbing through the ropes looking to knock off the Bears, but that's also how Union has built its reputation. You don't become one of Virginia's most consistent programs by spending Friday nights looking for somebody easy to beat.

🏆 ONE STEP LEFT

For all the changes around Bullitt Park, Harless understands exactly what he's inherited. Union has won a lot of football games, won playoff games and made deep postseason runs. Last year's team reached the state semifinals.

There is still one step this program hasn't taken, and Harless isn't hiding from it.

“I hope we can maintain it and maybe figure out a way to take the final step.”

That final step is a state championship, but Harless also made clear that winning football games isn't the only championship he's chasing.

“We’re going to do everything we can do character wise to build these boys into good men and try to build them into great football players along the way.”

Even the Nature Boy can respect that. Championship belts eventually come off the wall, records eventually get broken and Friday night crowds eventually go home. What kind of men walk out of that locker room lasts a whole lot longer.

Still, this is Appalachia & Big Stone Gap, this is Union football, and there's another season about to start. So shine up the helmets, turn on the lights at Bullitt Park and make sure somebody leaves a little room beside that press box, because The Nature Boy is back for another season of Friday Night Holler Reports.

And if these bigger Bears, their new quarterback and their new head coach figure out how to take that one final step?

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! THE NATURE BOY MIGHT JUST NEED A NEW CHAMPIONSHIP ROBE!”

🏈 Friday Night Holler Report
Where Southwest Virginia high school football meets a little Friday night foolishness.

WOOOO!