Brent Barker [Class of 1982]
Western Hills High School Hall of Fame Inductee
As a proud graduate of Western Hills High School, Brent was a three-sport letterman earning nine varsity letters as the Cougar’s QB in football, point guard in basketball, and shortstop in baseball.
He was named Sophomore of the Year both in football and baseball, along with multiple All-District awards his junior and senior years. Brent was also named 1st Team All Tarrant County Shortstop his senior year. Brent, along with his great teammates and coaches, experienced a very successful senior season with football (7-3), basketball (20-13), and baseball (16-5) finishing second in all three sports.
Brent earned a baseball scholarship to Texas Christian University, where he was a four-year starter as a middle infielder for the Horned Frogs. During his four seasons, Barker set a record turning double plays in a season and career. In 1986, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Education from TCU, while working as a graduate assistant coach.
Brent began his teaching and coaching career in the Fort Worth ISD. His first job was at Trimble Tech as a freshman football and baseball coach while teaching English. In his second year, he was named the head baseball coach at Diamond Hill Jarvis, where the Eagles finished 17-10 and a regional final appearance.
In 1991, Coach Barker got the opportunity to come back to Western Hills as the head baseball coach and assistant football coach. He helped turn the program around finishing 13-11-1.
After that, Coach Barker was the head baseball coach at LD Bell and Southlake Carroll. At Southlake Carroll, Barker garnered a 77-23 record in three seasons, including three trips to the regional tournament, and he guided the Dragons to the 4A State Tournament in 1996. Coach Barker was also an assistant football coach and part of the 1993 Carroll Dragon State 3A Football Championship.
Brent then accepted a collegiate coaching position at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama. In his 14 years at Faulkner, Barker served four sports as head coach — baseball, men’s and women’s golf and football — and was the athletic director for nine years. He came to Faulkner in 2001 as the head baseball coach and immediately lifted the Eagles to national prominence. Faulkner baseball was consistently ranked in the NAIA’s top 10, and in seven total seasons at the helm, he averaged 40 wins a year. He guided the Eagles to the 2001 NCCAA national championship and to NAIA regional tournaments in 2002, 2003 and 2004, with his 2004 team winning the Georgia-Alabama-Carolina Conference championship. In 2016 Brent was inducted into the Faulkner University Athletic Hall of Fame.
Brent officiated high school and college basketball for 40 years retiring after officiating the 5A Alabama State Championship in 2013. He currently officiates high school volleyball and club volleyball. Brent returned to Fort Worth in 2014 where he became the Athletic Director of the Eagle Mountain Saginaw ISD. He will serve for 12 years before retiring in December 2025. He and his wife Belinda have two daughters and four grandchildren.