This week in TXHSFB (Feb. 1): A big shakeup in the Valley, multiple Cy-Fair ISD moves and more

[caption id="attachment_28867" align="alignright" width="350"] The Panthers will be led by a new coach for the first time in many years. (Photo by Alex Fajardo)[/caption] We lead this week’s coaching updates with a big shake up in the Valley as Weslaco ISD reassigned Weslaco High HC Tony Villareal after twelve years at the helm. Villareal, a longtime veteran of Valley coaching circles, has 197 all-time wins, but his relationship with the WISD school board had become fractured in recent years and rumors of his departure swirled around Weslaco the past few offseasons. Villareal’s reassignment certainly will intensify rumors of a possible return to Port Isabel, where he first became a head coach, leading the Tarpons from 1990-1997. Weatherford didn’t take the most conventional route to hiring their head football coach, but they certainly made waves with their hire on Saturday of Aledo DC Billy Mathis as their next HFC. Weatherford wanted a young guy to bring energy to the program and Mathis certainly brings that energy along with his experience at one of the state’s top programs. North Forney had their initial round of interviews late last week. At least four head coaches were involved in the initial interview process, two from DFW, one from East Texas and one from the Greater Houston area. There were also two successful coordinators from DFW who got interviews. A second round of interviews will take place this week and the plan is to bring a name to the school board on Feb. 6. The early returns say two head coaches from the DFW area who have had plenty of success are the front runners. The posting for the vacant Arlington Seguin job should be public later this week. After the standard ten day posting period, expect interviews to kick off in mid-February. Once the interview process kicks off, expect AISD to move quickly on getting a new coach in place for the Cougars. The offseason movement picked up quite a bit in Cy-Fair ISD with multiple moves within the district last week. Cy Falls HC Kirk Eaton was promoted to become Assistant AD at Cy-Fair ISD, leaving an opening at Cy Falls. The district’s newest high school, Bridgeland, named David Raffield as their first head football coach, as expected. Raffield, who had spent the past several years at College Station A&M Consolidated, has ties to Cy-Fair ISD as he was the predecessor to Eaton at Cy Falls. The Spring High job will close online on Feb. 7. Interviews will begin shortly thereafter and a hire should be expected in the third week of February. Brookshire Royal found an experienced hand to try to lead them out of their spiral in recent years as Houston Heights DC and former Aldine Nimitz HC Robert Toomer was hired late last week. Katy ISD will be filling their third head coach opening this offseason as Tompkins HC Tony Tademy departs after two years. KISD has had to find coaches at Paetow and Morton Ranch already this offseason. The Woodlands College Park kicked off interviews this week. Monday and Tuesday, current coordinators who are interested in the job interviewed, and later this week current head coaches are interviewing, including a current HC of a top ten 5A program. Elgin is now in the market for a new HFC/AD after Jim Garfield departed to take an Assistant AD role in Lubbock ISD. Garfield has several connections in the Lubbock area, including ties to both Lubbock ISD AD Mike Meeks and Frenship ISD AD Kenny Catney. Last Thursday, La Vernia named Tyler Chapel Hill OC Chris Taber as their next HFC/AD. The Bears are looking for some stability as they are on their fourth head coach in four seasons. Taber has experience as a head coach at Jacksonville from 2012-2014, and has some ties to the area as he was an assistant at New Braunfels from 2005-2009. Liberty Hill will be accepting applications for their vacant HFC/AD position until Feb. 17 and interviews will start up the following week. Expect a hire to be in place at the board meeting scheduled for March 20, at the latest, but there is a chance a special board meeting could be called to have the new coach in place before spring break. On the coast, Edna moved quickly to fill their opening after Huey Chancellor’s retirement. Edna ISD pegged Jerry Long as their next HFC/AD. Long spent last year at Corpus Christi Carroll, but he’s best known for his time at nearby East Bernard where he was the HC of their 2012 state title team. Another Corpus Christi ISD head football coach position came open last week after the retirement of Remy Rodriguez at Miller High School. Tuloso-Midway is interviewing four finalists for their vacant HFC position. There are two current Coastal Bend head coaches in the mix, one at the 4A level and one at the 3A level. There’s also a 5A OC from north of Corpus and a 4A OC along the coast in the mix. A finalist should emerge by the end of the week. Out west, it appears Reagan County has zeroed in on a lone finalist to present to the school board on Feb. 13. It appears they’ll pull an assistant from a nearby program with plenty of recent success. The job came open after Ken Campbell stepped down to focus on full-time AD duties. In the panhandle, Borger is wrapping up the process of searching for a replacement for James Day, who resigned shortly after the season. BISD plans to present a finalist to the school board at the Feb. 9 board meeting. Early word is a couple of assistant coaches from the South Plains, and an out-of-state head coach are in contention. Eldorado also has a new man as Gonzales OC Michael Johnson was hired to replace Bryan Green, who left after four seasons. Hico, which is opening their vacant HFC job up to outside applicants for the first time in 25 years, is seeing plenty of interest as the applicant pool has swelled to over 150 applications. HISD will begin the process of interviewing candidates in early February with a goal of hiring someone before the end of the month, and having the new coach in place before Spring Break. The job posting for the vacant HFC/AD position at Cotulla just closed last Friday. Don’t look for interviews to commence until the middle of February, and a hire is not likely to be made until the March board meeting. Hawkins wrapped up their interviews for their vacant HFC/AD position. It’s likely HISD will move on hiring a new coach at their board meeting set for next Monday, Feb. 6. This week also marks THSCA regional meetings, among the items on the agenda will be a survey of coaches on various items. If these items have a significant majority, there is a chance they could be brought to the UIL for a vote. Among the items are a 5A split division survey. This would separate Class 5A by divisions as is already done in 4A, 3A, and 2A. Another item will be allowing the use of technology (iPads, etc) on sidelines and in press box. An interesting note will be a vote on football jerseys and what can be on the uniforms. Currently, the UIL has an exception to an NCAA rule that allows only school name, mascot and numbers on the uniform. This exception allows mottos, sayings, etc to be on uniforms (CUJO, TPW, TTHL, etc). A vote to eliminate this exception means coaches would be in favor of mirroring the NCAA rules. Also of note, there will be a 2017 rule change requiring uniforms to have contrasting numbers on uniforms, much to the delight of media everywhere. Finally, there will be a survey item regarding the elimination of kickoffs. 7-on-7 time is approaching and the State Qualifying schedule will be released on Sunday, Feb. 4. Go to http://www.texas7on7.com to find out the full schedule and info on how to enter your team in a SQT! It’s officially clinic season in the state of Texas and if you have coaching clinic information that we are missing below by all means send it our way! You can e-mail it to me at mrstepp817@yahoo.com or reach out to me on twitter @Matt_Stepp817. February 2-4: Nike Coach of the Year Clinic, Winstar Casino Oklahoma https://www.nikecoyfootball.com/clinics/view/3/dallas-red-riverFebruary 10-11: Hill Country Clinic/Best Little Clinic In Texas, Fredericksburg http://www.hcfc-blc.com/February 10-12: Lone Star Coaches Clinic, College Station http://www.lonestarclinic.com/June 13-15: Angelo Football Clinic, San Angelo http://www.angelofootballclinic.com/index.htmlJuly 23-26: 2017 THSCA Coaches Convention & Coaching School, Houston Convention & Coaching School | Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA)

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