Did you take some time off from football like a well-adjusted person? Lucky for you, we at DCTX aren’t. We’ve had our finger on the pulse of TXHSFB all offseason. Here is a primer on everything you need to know before spring football starts this month.

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Player of the Year Candidates

Earning Player of the Year requires that a) you’re really freaking good, and b) that your team makes a serious state championship run. With that in mind, here are some picks in no particular order.

Khelvy Jefferson, West Orange-Stark RB

Over three seasons in a Mustangs uniform, Jefferson has morphed from a fun viral story (Wait, this 5-foot-3-inch, 165-pound running back can squat 550 pounds?) into one of the best players in TXHSFB. 

It seems that the more people doubt Jefferson because of his size, the more he doubles down on himself. Before his junior year of high school, he stitched “KJ 2K” on the back of his letterman jacket. He rushed for 2,498 yards and 34 touchdowns, leading West Orange-Stark to its first district championship since 2021 and first state championship appearance since 2017. 

West Orange-Stark is a running back factory. But since Jefferson already has the school’s career rushing yards mark with 4,208, he may forever put it out of reach in 2026.

Trot Jordan, Stephenville QB

Jordan was made in a lab to run Stephenville’s RPO attack. The 5-foot-10-inch, 200-pound quarterback makes quick decisions, has a quick release, and… he’s straight-up quick on his feet with a 4.6 40-yard dash. His dual-threat ability was a difference maker in the final three games of Stephenville’s Class 4A DI State Championship run. 

In his first full year as a starter, Jordan threw 3,241 yards, 45 touchdowns, and just four interceptions, earning Padilla Poll Class 4A DI Offensive Player of the Year. His offense is loaded with returning stars. Cooper Doty is an all-state player and four-year starter on the offensive line. Zyler McClendon rushed for 1,700 yards and 28 touchdowns. Two 900-yard receivers return in Caden Monk and Adan Jergins. 

Keimarion Wiggins, Bay City QB

This one might be a wildcard, but Wiggins impacts the game in too many ways to leave him off the list. Bay City’s QB had 1,443 passing yards and 16 touchdowns through the air, 834 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns on the ground, and even caught 12 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns. He earned TSWA All-Purpose Co-Player of the Year after leading Bay City to a 9-4 record. Bay City has made at least the second round of the playoffs every year since 2021, and has the ingredients to make a deep playoff run with eight returning starters back on offense.

Most Intriguing New Coaches

Aubrey Sims, Alvarado

Here’s a trivia fact most would whiff on: Alvarado had the best offense in TXHSFB last season with 62.4 points per game. Coach Casey Walraven, an Alvarado alum, departed this offseason to take the Hutto job. Now, the Indians are turning to another alum from the Walraven tree in Weatherford’s Aubrey Sims. Walraven was Sims’s offensive coordinator for seven years. 

Needless to say, Sims is fired up for the opportunity.

“It has taken me 28 years to do this,” Sims said. “But my dream when I got into coaching was to come home and lead Alvarado to a state championship.”

Sims has a 154-91 overall record in 21 years as a head coach, with highlights including a 2018 state semifinal trip at Iowa Park and a regional final appearance with Grandview. But this is an intriguing hire because he did go 1-9 last season at Weatherford. Alvarado also returns just three offensive starters and lost TSWA All-Purpose Co-Player of the Year Demarcus Belton.

The good news for Sims: the quarterback is in place. Senior Kameron Jenkins (6-foot-4-inches, 225 pounds) led all of Class 4A with 3,864 passing yards.

Josh Gregory, China Spring

Fine, I’ll do it myself… Josh Gregory, probably. 

Tyler Beatty’s head coaching tenure at China Spring started with a state championship in 2022. But Beatty was not retained after the Cougars suffered back-to-back losing seasons, the first since 2013-14. Instead, athletic director Josh Gregory added head football coach to his duties.

This hire is intriguing because you don’t often see a non-coach athletic director become the head coach. And, it’s happening at a historic program like China Spring. But Gregory is familiar with that tradition. He began his coaching career at China Spring in 2002 and was the offensive coordinator from 2013-15. As Cedar Ridge’s offensive coordinator from 2016-20, Gregory was part of three district championship teams and a Class 6A state semifinalist.

Jack Alvarez, Center

Alvarez will be Center’s third head coach in as many seasons. But, if history is any indication, he’ll halt that revolving door.

Alvarez won the 2014 Class 5A DII State Championship at Ennis, led Kirbyville to the state championship game in 2008 and 2009, and has made the state semifinals with Ennis (2013) and Cuero (2021). Overall, he has a 205-104 career record over 26 seasons. 

Center’s skill talent, paired with Alvarez’s coaching chops, makes them an intriguing storyline in 2026. QB Easton Wulf (1,879 total yards) is a competitor and proven leader, while the Villegas brothers, RB/DB Jaysis and DB/RB Zy’Kevius, are physical playmakers. But the Roughriders landed in a gauntlet district with Carthage, Pleasant Grove, Gilmer, and a rising Pittsburg program. 

4A Newcomers to Watch

Corpus Christi Miller

Last year’s Miller team could’ve easily folded the tent after a 0-5 start. The Buccaneers rotated two freshmen quarterbacks and started three sophomores on the offensive line. Instead, the young team grew up fast and clawed back to make the playoffs at 4-7. 

Remember, this program reached at least the second round of the playoffs for six seasons in a row, including back-to-back regional final appearances in 2023 and 2024. That winning pedigree, combined with the experience Miller gained last season, could make them dangerous in Class 4A. 

But Miller will have to prove they can reach the same heights without the program’s architect Justen Evans. The Buccaneers were 3-27 in the three seasons before Evans arrived, and went 77-33 with him at the helm.

El Paso Andress

Last year, District 1-5A DII had three Overall MVPs. One was Arizona State signee Jake Fette. The other was UTEP signee Daveon Singleton. And the third, Andress QB Jamari Milton, is not only coming back this year, but dropping a classification. 

With Milton at the helm of Andress’ offense, the Golden Eagles posted a 9-3 record, their best finish since 2021. He’ll have familiar weapons back in junior athlete Aavant Clayton (District Offensive Utility Player of the Year) and RB Carmelo Jones (840 rushing yards, 15 TD).

Andress dropped into arguably the most loaded quarterback district in all of Class 4A. El Paso Ysleta’s Rodrigo Martinez was District 1-4A DI Co-MVP, while Carlos Rojas III from El Paso Riverside was the District 1-4A DI Offensive MVP.

Hitchcock

Hitchcock’s new district is tough. Bellville is a perennial power, and La Marque is a program on the rise after a 10-3 season. But Hitchcock is the rare program whose district arguably didn’t get any harder after jumping from Class 3A DI to 4A DII. The last two state champions, Yoakum and Columbus, were their district rivals. 

 Hitchcock will be a dangerous team in Class 4A because of their team speed. Junior Cam’Ron Taylor (1,345 total yards, 19 TD) is a two-way star at running back and linebacker, while backfield mate Cedric Brown could be in for a breakout junior year. The linebacker corps is stacked with 6-foot-2-inch, 220-pound Elijah Brown (95 tackles), 6-foot-2-inch, 190-pound Eli Walker, and 6-foot, 200-pound Jaydin Freeman.

New Districts We're Most Excited to See

District 8-4A DII

• Carthage: Back-to-back Class 4A DII State Champions, Longest active TXHSFB winning streak at 31 games, Coach Scott Surratt has 11 state championship rings
• Texarkana Pleasant Grove: Advanced to at least the third round of the playoffs for 10-straight seasons, new coach is Johnathan Darby
• Gilmer: Coming off second losing season since 1995, 2023 Class 4A DII State Champions, return DCTX four-star lineman Ismael Camara
• Center: New head coach Jack Alvarez has career 205-104 record
• Pittsburg: 7-4 in 2025, return seven offensive starters
• Longview Spring Hill: returns 18 starters

District 12-4A DI

• Stephenville: 16-0 Class 4A DI State Champion, 7 returning starters on each side headlined by Padilla Poll Offensive PoY Trot Jordan
• Jarrell: 9-3 in 2025 was best record since 2015, return First Team All-District safety and team J.T. Travis, as well as offensive line anchors Vincent Logan and Arthur Jenkins
• Lampasas: 9-3 in 2025, Coach Troy Rogers was the DCTX Mid-Season Coach of the Year, return the entire offensive line that was team strength in 2025
• China Spring: New head coach, three-time state champion, went 4-8 in 2025 but upset Bellville in first round of playoffs
• Burnet: 4-8 in 2025, won playoff game over Andrews, implementing new offensive system to highlight returning QB Fisher Powell and RB Bryan Johnson
• Marble Falls: 3-7 in 2025, internal expectations of a playoff push with 13 returning starters headlined by QB Crawford Mattox

District 15-4A DII

Cuero will be the district favorite, but the race for playoff seeding behind them will be intriguing.

• Cuero: 12-2 in 2025, ten state championship appearances in program history, return 12 starters including RB Melo Perez and LB Dominic White
• Bandera: 10-1 in 2025 was second ten-win season since 2003, returns 12 starters including District Newcomer of the Year Dalton Parks
• Gonzales: Went 7-5 in 2021 in first year under Lyndon Hamilton was longest playoff run since 2018, 
• Geronimo Navarro: 3-7 in 2025 was first non-playoff season since 2007, had a ten-win season every year from 2012-21
• Pearsall: 2-9 in 2025, have not had a winning season since 2017
• San Antonio Memorial: 1-9 in 2025, have not had a winning season since 2017

Big Shoes to Fill

Canyon West Plains

After a 35-8 run over the last three years with a foundational senior class of 2026, Canyon West Plains returns just two starters on both sides of the ball. The offense will run through all-state running back Slade Russell (2,002 yards, 24 TD) while the Wolves find a replacement for four-year starting QB and program record holder Reid Macon. 

Athens

Last season, Athens made their second regional final since starting football in 1911. The Hornets were propelled by the best offense in program history. QB David Richardson broke a school record with 44 passing touchdowns, while E’Manuel Moore and Julious Brewer were two of the most underrated wide receivers in the state. Athens will lean on the running back tandem of Ja’bory Taylor and Charli Kiser while the passing game reloads.

5 Teams That Could Make it to Arlington That Weren't There Last Year

Waco La Vega

The thing about a Don Hyde-coached ball club: they always get better as the season rolls on. But the Pirates should be starting off strong with 17 starters back from an 11-3 team. The offensive and defensive lines will benefit most from that returning production. OL Zaith Gonzalez was District 12-4A DII Outstanding Offensive Lineman of the Year as a junior, while rising star DE Eddison King (6-foot-3-inches, 220-pounds) earned District Defensive Newcomer of the Year as a freshman. 

The biggest offseason task on the Pirates’ plate is replacing District MVP wide receiver Jabarie Thornton. But if three-year starting QB Kourtney Parr takes another leap this offseason like he did in 2025, the Pirates might be able to take a wide receiver-by-committee approach.

San Antonio Davenport

Coach J.D. Zimmerhanzel is 50-13 since starting Davenport’s program in 2020. The Wolves are looking to win their fourth district championship in a row - and get revenge for the regional final loss to La Vernia.

The offense did lose three-time all-state RB Barrett Fallon (Fordham), but the Wolves are stacked with returning talent. QB Tristan Torrez is back after earning Second Team All-District as a sophomore, as are his top three receivers, headlined by Zayden Garza. While Fallon will be sorely missed, Davenport does have a three-year letterman and First Team All-District performer, Kele Solidum, ready to step into a larger role. 

If Davenport can replace five seniors along last year’s defensive front seven, the Wolves could compete for their first state championship in program history. 

Brock

Here’s a wild stat: Brock’s “worst” season since 2014 was a 12-1 third-round playoff exit. Picking the Eagles to make a playoff run is like predicting the sun will come up tomorrow.

Brock has the returning playmakers on both sides of the ball to contend for its first state championship appearance since 2022. The Eagles have last year’s District Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year back in QB Holt Frazier (3,445 passing yards, 50 touchdowns) and LB Hayden Waller (104 tackles, 8 TFL, 3 sacks). 

Waller will headline a defense that should be the strength of Brock’s football team. Two-way starting offensive lineman Waylon Winfrey is a menace on both sides. Braeden Ray was a First-Team All-District safety. Edge rusher Karsen Sullivan had 83 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, and five sacks.

Gilmer

Could Gilmer go from 4-7 all the way to the state championship game? The Buckeyes have the pedigree and the returning production with 17 starters back. All five offensive linemen are back, headlined by Ismael Camara, the No.6-ranked player in the DCTX Hot 100. QB Zade Taylor returns for his senior year after finishing strong with a 300-yard passing and 100-yard rushing playoff game. RB Tayveon Horn, a four-sport letterman, has offers from Texas Tech and UTSA.

The defense returns playmakers at all three levels. DL Davion King has been starting since his freshman year. LB Austin Blakeley became a starter on both sides of the ball by district play. Zaylen Johnson is back at strong safety.

Springtown

Coach Brian Hulett has become one of the most underrated TXHSFB coaches during his tenure at Springtown. From 1954 to 2013, the Porcupines had seven double-digit win seasons. But they’ve done so five times in 12 years with Hulett at the helm. 

Three-year starter Kaine Hill is back at QB after putting up 3,270 yards and 48 touchdowns as a junior. LB Rome Ewell is a DCTX three-star prospect with 212 career tackles. Springtown also has help from a 10-0 JV team to replace 12 starters.