This Week in Texas High School Football: A five-star transfer, Marshall moves quickly and Spradlin returns to the sidelines

Photo by Michael Horbovetz

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McKinney Boyd expected to name new head coach this week
It appears that McKinney Boyd is winding down its search and should name its next head coach by the end of this week. A strong group of candidates interviewed including state title winning head coaches from East Texas, Central Texas and a very successful head coach from West Texas. A couple of internal coordinators interviewed as well, but it appears a late mystery candidate from the DFW area could also be in the running for this job.

Rockwall-Heath hires Mike Spradlin
Rockwall ISD on Tuesday night named Magnolia ISD athletic director Mike Spradlin as the next head football coach at Rockwall-Heath. Spradlin, who has 15 seasons experience as a head coach with stops at Navasota, Round Rock Westwood, Abilene Cooper and Temple, holds a 109-64 record as a head coach. He led Temple to the state title game in 2014.

Frisco naring a hire
Interviews should be wrapping up next week for the Frisco High job which was left open when Vance Gibson departed after 14 seasons to take a job on staff at East Texas Baptist University. Frisco ISD has long been a place that typically promoted from within when head coaching jobs have opened, but recently that trend has changed with several hires from outside of the district taking place for vacant head coaching jobs. I wouldn’t be surprised if this time Frisco ISD stays inside with this hire as there are several qualified coordinators inside of the district who should get a look, including one currently on the FHS staff. Look for the hire to be made at the February 4 school board meeting.

Marshall moves quickly
As expected Marshall wasted little time naming a new head coach/athletic director to replace Claude Mathis who left to return to DeSoto last week. Offensive coordinator Jake Griedl was named on Tuesday night to lead the Mavericks athletic program. Griedl, who has been the offensive coordinator for Marshall for the past two years, was also an assistant on the 2016 Class 6A Division I state title team at Lake Travis. He takes over a veteran Marshall squad that posted a 10-3 record in 2017.

Athens hires Zac Harrell
On Thursday Athens named Waxahachie offensive coordinator Zac Harrell as its next head football coach and athletic director. Harrell has experience in East Texas having spent time in the offensive coordinator role at nearby Van. He’s the son of legendary Ennis head coach Sam Harrell and is a highly regarded offensive mind. Harrell’s spread offensive philosophy will be a departure from the Wing-T offense Athens ran under former head coach Paul Essary.

Godley looks out West
On Monday, it was announced that pending school board approval, Godley will name Levelland head coach Curtis Lowery as its next head football coach. Lowery, a native of Stephenville played football at Texas Tech and has spent time at Stephenville, Kennedale, Snyder and Glen Rose as an assistant before landing his first head coaching gig at Levelland in 2017. He spent two seasons leading the Lobos and compiled a 14-8 record. The Godley ISD school board is scheduled to meet Thursday to vote on Lowery’s official approval as its next head coach. Lowery’s departure also opens up a very good job on the South Plains in Levelland. The Lobos are situated just 20 miles west of Lubbock in a one school ISD with outstanding facilities and a recent track record of winning and recently dropping down to Division II. Levelland will certainly be one of the more sought after jobs in West Texas.

Frazier steps down at West Rusk
After 12 seasons and an impressive 83-52 mark at West Rusk, John Frazier resigned his post last Wednesday.

“I decided to go ahead and resign, take early retirement and go into private business. It’s been a great twelve years,” Frazier told Dave Campbell’s Texas Football on Wednesday.

Frazier helped the Raiders navigate the jump to 3A Division I with an 8-3 record. That could have been much better had injuries not decimated the ranks. His best year at West Rusk was an impressive 12-2 run in 2015 losing to eventual state champion Waskom in the regional finals.

Andrew King returns to the sidelines in Stockdale
After spending the past four seasons off the sidelines, Stockdale ISD AD Andrew King will return to coaching this fall taking over for Josh West at Stockdale. King, who was the head coach from 2004-2007 at Stockdale has an impressive 82-42 record as a head coach. He also led Poth from 2008-2014 and will now return to the school that gave him his first head coaching gig back in 2004.

Five-star WR transfers to Tomball
WR Demond Demas, who is rated by multiple recruiting services as a five-star prospect, transferred to Tomball from Houston North Forest at the start of the spring semester. The Texas A&M commit, if ruled eligible to play, will be a major edition to an already explosive Tomball attack for the 2019 season.

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 matt.stepp@texasfootball.com or reach out to me on twitter @Matt_Stepp817.

January 25-26: DFW Clinic, Grapevine

January 25-26: City of Palms Clinic, McAllen

January 26: Texan Drive Clinic, Porter

February 6: THSCA FAST Tackling Clinic, Lubbock

February 8-10: Lone Star Clinic, College Station

February 13: THSCA FAST Tackling Clinic, McAllen

February 15-16: Hill Country Clinic, Fredericksburg

February 15-16: South Plains Clinic, Lubbock

February 16: Farmersville Clinic, Farmersville

February 20: THSCA FAST Tackling Clinic, Longview

March 6: THSCA FAST Tackling Clinic, El Paso

May 3-4: I-45 Clinic, The Woodlands

May 3-4: El Paso Football Clinic, El Paso

June 11-13: Angelo Football Clinic, San Angelo

July 21-23: 2017 THSCA Coaches Convention & Coaching School, Houston

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Matt Stepp is the Texas High School Football Inside for Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. Find him on Twitter: @Matt_Stepp817.

 

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