This week in Texas high school football: February 28

DeSoto hires Mike Robinson All the rumors were finally put to rest on Monday night as DeSoto officially hired North Mesquite head coach Mike Robinson to be its next head football coach replacing Todd Peterman. Robinson, who has been a DeSoto resident for the last 16 years, knows the landscape well and is well versed in the challenges that lie ahead, but he’s got plenty of experience to lean on. A native of Gainesville, Robinson was an assistant on Commerce’s 1999 state title team under former legendary head coach Steve Lineweaver before becoming a head coach at Wilmer-Hutchins. In five years at Wilmer-Hutchins, he posted an impressive 40-17 record leading the Eagles to the third round of the playoffs twice. In 2005 he was expected to have a serious state title contender before the former Wilmer-Hutchins ISD closed its doors for good and Robinson was left without a team to coach. After a year as an assistant at Lancaster, Robinson spent the 2006 season leading Dallas Hillcrest where he posted a 7-5 mark leading the Panthers to the area playoffs, before taking the North Mesquite job where he’s been ever since. 2015 was his best season leading the Stallions as NMHS posted a 10-3 mark. Southlake Carroll and Hal Wasson officially part ways On Sunday evening Carroll ISD, via a press release, made it official that the district and head coach Hal Wasson had agreed on a settlement and Wasson submitted his resignation. After last week’s school board meeting when the board authorized the superintendent to negotiate a settlement with Wasson, it became apparent that the district had no leverage to fire the embattled coach with cause and had no other option but to pay Wasson the remainder of his contract along with other stipulations as agreed upon by both parties. Wasson comes out a winner in this battle, but in these ugly HR/legal battles that play out publicly, no one comes out without a few bruises. There’s no question this entire ordeal has at least for now tarnished the image of the district and the Southlake Carroll brand. Now it must move forward with trying to find a new head coach but the fallout from this situation may not be over as many in the community are unhappy with how this played out and others could be held accountable in the coming weeks. It will be interesting to see if Wasson decides to coach again. He’s got an incredible record as a head coach and has a state title to his name, but will he want to stay in DFW and what jobs would be attractive at this point or would he be willing to try and look for something outside of the Metroplex? As for Carroll, the rumors are already flying on potential targets to replace Wasson, the search will be one to keep an eye on.   McKinney names Shavers McKinney ISD on Tuesday night named Lubbock Estacado head coach Marcus Shavers the next coach of the McKinney Lions replacing Jeff Smith. Shavers, who is a graduate of nearby Allen High School, posted an 18-6 record in two seasons leading Estacado and will look to bring the same type of excitement and enthusiasm to the McKinney job that he infused into the Estacado program. Shavers’ departure opens up one of the more attractive jobs in West Texas, as Estacado after a 10-2 campaign in 2017 is dropping down to Division II in Class 4A. Defensive Coordinator Joe Cluley has been named interim head coach at Estacado and is likely the leading candidate to land the job on a full time basis, but if LISD decides to open the job up expect to see a lot of interest statewide. Both Crowley ISD jobs open It was a busy week last week in Crowley ISD as the district will have to find new football coaches at both their high schools. Chris James, the winningest head coach in school history, announced his resignation on February 16 after eight seasons at the helm. James led Crowley to three district titles in his tenure and a pair of playoff wins. Prior to his arrival in Crowley, the school had won only two district titles in school history and only had one playoff victory to their credit. On Wednesday morning, DCTF learned that North Crowley head coach Eugene Rogers was reassigned after five years at the helm, one of the reasons listed in Rogers letter of reassignment was “misrepresentation facts regarding a student athlete’s college signing.” It will be quite interesting to see where Crowley ISD goes from here and if the negative publicity surrounding the reassignment negatively impacts the applicant pool. The Woodlands promotes Rapp There’s been plenty of change around The Woodlands this off-season with the resignation of Mark Schmid and defensive coordinator Pat Kennedy being hired at Montgomery Lake Creek. However, some continuity remains as offensive coordinator Jim Rapp was promoted to Head Football Coach on February 20. Strake Jesuit on its third in three years In a very quiet move, Houston Strake Jesuit in January went through a coaching change as Mark Modeste stepped down after just one season leading the Crusaders. Offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak, a graduate of Strake Jesuit, was promoted to take Modete’s spot. Kubiak, who is the son of former NFL QB and Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, will lead Strake into a new district over the next two years as the Crusaders leave their usual alignment with Katy ISD and are placed with Alief ISD, Pearland ISD, Brazoswood and George Ranch. Humble Summer Creek lands Kenny Harrison Once the finalists for the Humble Summer Creek job were listed, it was rumored that Port Arthur Memorial’s Kenny Harrison would be the leading candidate to land the gig. On Wednesday, Humble ISD AD Troy Kite confirmed to the Beaumont Enterprise that the rumors were true and HISD landed the well-thought-of coach from the Golden Triangle. Harrison departs Port Arthur after nine years and a strong 69-36 record and takes over as the second head coach in school history at Humble Summer Creek. Clear Brook nabs Bay City head coach Monday night was a busy night statewide as coaches were hired in multiple spots and one outstanding hire looks to be Clear Brook landing Bay City head coach Lupe Florez.  Florez, who was the OC for back to back-to- back state champions at Cameron Yoe, spent three years at Bay City posting an 18-15 record. Even more impressive is Florez posted that mark taking over a program that had won just one game in the previous three seasons. Florez will look to build on a solid foundation set by Mike Allison who left a month ago to take over at Pearland Dawson. Lubbock High hires Mansfield Assistant Lubbock ISD made its hire official on Thursday morning naming Mansfield assistant coach Shane Stephen as its next head football coach replacing Jason Strunk. Stephen has been a mainstay in Mansfield ISD working at Mansfield High and prior to that spending time on Travis Pride’s staff at Mansfield Summit. San Antonio McCollum Brings An Alum Home Harlandale ISD named Trinity University OC Matthew Uzzell as the next Head Football Coach at McCollum High School last week. Uzzell is a McCollum alum and was considered one of the bright young coordinators at the NCAA Division III level. Navasota alum Dacus returns home Navasota on Tuesday night named Graham offensive coordinator Casey Dacus as its next Head Football Coach/Athletic Director. Dacus has coordinated one of the state’s top offensive units in Graham as last year the Steers posted a 14-1 record advancing all the way to the state semi-finals. Dacus is a Navasota alum whose father Mike Dacus coached Navasota to the 1988 3A state title game.   Monahans stays with the Wing-T Monahans stayed true to its roots hiring former Amarillo High Head Coach Mel Maxfield on February 23.  Maxfield who was let go shortly after the 2017 season runs the same Wing-T offense that the Lobos have run in recent years so the transition should be a smooth one.  Maxfield has a 239-141-1 record as a head coach at Forney, Burleson and Amarillo. Bonham Still Without A Coach We thought Bonham would hire their next head football coach on Monday night as an assistant coach from the DFW area was presented to the school board on the recommendation of the superintendent and the hiring committee. However, the Bonham ISD School Board had other ideas and did not approve the recommendation on the grounds of questioning the hiring process of the committee. So as it stands, Bonham is still without a head football coach and new AD Harold Colson and the administration will have to try and scramble to get a new coach in place as the off-season wears on. Orange Grove names Ridge Point assistant On Tuesday, Orange Grove named Fort Bend Ridge Point RB Coach Mark DelPercio as its next head football coach. DelPercio has been in Texas for one year after a long stint as one of Delaware’s most successful coaches. DelPercio posted a 151-62 record as a head coach including leading Middletown High School to three state titles and four other title game appearances.   Eustace reassigns Ragle The Eustace ISD school board made the decision to reassign head coach Heath Ragle after five years at the helm. The Bulldogs posted a 22-28 mark in Ragle’s five seasons but failed to make the playoffs in some of Class 3A Division I’s toughest districts.   Coaching Clinics With the off-season starting that means it’s also clinic season throughout the state of Texas,  here’s a listing of clinics from around the state, if we don’t have you clinic listed e-mail it to us at matt.stepp@texasfootball.com May 5-6: Best Little Clinic in Texas, Wingate Hotel and Conference Center, Round Rock http://www.hcfc-blc.com May 25-26: Gateway to Mexico Clinic, Laredo June 12-14: Angelo Coaches Clinic, San Angelo http://www.angelofootballclinic.com/index.html July 22-25: 2018 THSCA Convention & Coaching School, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio http://www.thsca.com/convention