Samples, Gaston make history as first Black head coaches to face each other in TXHSFB championship game

ARLINGTON – Duncanville’s Reginald Samples and North Shore’s Willie Gaston became the first Black head coaches to face each other in the same state title game in Texas high school history during the Class 6A Division I championnship. Only 10 Black head coaches have won state championships, and three of them – Samples, South Oak Cliff’s Jason Todd, and DeSoto’s Claude Mathis – coached on Saturday at AT&T.  

“It addresses a lot of the stereotypes that are out there (about Black coaches),” Samples said after the game. “I get tired of it, frankly. (People say) that we only do well because we have great players, but we play teams with great players week in and week out and we’ve come out on the winning side of it.”