This Week in TXHSFB: What's next for John Walsh and Denton Guyer? Slaton and Tulia Open and Lancaster Loses Two Assistants

John Walsh (Photo by Gary Sanderson)

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A Stunning Resignation in DFW

In a stunning move, Denton Guyer head coach John Walsh sent a statement to the Denton Record-Chronicle on Monday night that he was resigning his post as head coach at Denton Guyer after 14 incredibly successful seasons. Walsh, the only head coach in Guyer history, went 132-55 from 2006-19. That record is all the more impressive considering he was 1-19 in his first two years, before turning the program around in 2008 with a shocking run to the state semifinals before losing to Longview. Guyer has been to the playoffs every year since and the Wildcats have only had one season not above .500 (6-6 in 2016). Under Walsh, Denton Guyer won state titles in 2012 and 2013, was a state finalist in 2010 and 2019, and advanced to the state semifinals in 2008 and 2009. The big question for Coach Walsh is where does he land for the 2020 season? Walsh could jump to the college ranks where his son JW Walsh is a GA at the University of Texas, or does Walsh sit tight and work the angle of landing another high school job? There’s also the question of what direction does Denton ISD go to replace Walsh at one of the area’s most high-profile jobs? My gut tells me athletic director Joey Florence moves quickly and already has his short list ready to go, and one target we keep hearing is a current head coach at a high profile DFW program. We’ll see if that pans out or if Denton goes a different direction.

 

Lancaster Loses A Pair of Assistants

Dallas ISD named Lancaster offensive coordinator Spencer Gilbert as the next head football coach at Dallas Carter on Wednesday March 11. Gilbert has coordinated one of the area’s most explosive offensive attacks at Lancaster as the Tigers advanced to the 5A-Division I regional finals in 2019. Dallas Carter will be Gilbert’s first head coaching job, he spent the last 12 years with Lancaster head coach Christ Gilbert with stops at South Oak Cliff and Terrell before coming to Lancaster. In addition to losing his offensive coordinator, Chris Gilbert will have to replace an offensive line coach as Derrick Adams was named the head coach at Douglass High School in Oklahoma City.

 

Slaton and Tulia In the Market for New Head Coach

A couple of jobs on the South Plains opened up Friday within about an hour of each other as Slaton and Tulia are both searching for head coaches. We start in 3A-Division I where Slaton head coach Jeff Caffey and Slaton ISD mutually agreed to part ways after two seasons. Caffey led the Tigers to the area round of the playoffs in back to back seasons and Slaton in 2017 made the area playoffs while Caffey was an assistant. Before this three-year run, Slaton had never advanced past the first-round playoffs in back to back seasons in school history. Down in 3A-Division II Tulia and head coach Zach Ramos parted ways after two seasons as well, Ramos in 2018 led the Hornets to a stunning 8-5 record, but last year the Hornets posted a 4-6 mark and missed out on the playoffs.

 

Byron West Resigns at Henrietta

After some questions and controversy in February, Henrietta head coach Byron West resigned his post after 15 seasons and a 99-74 overall record. West initially had his contract non-renewed by the school board in February and then, just a couple of days later at a school board meeting, HISD school board elected to table his contract after a large turnout in support of Coach West showed up to the meeting. Shortly before spring break, he elected to resign his post, presumably to give all parties a chance to move on and not drag out a difficult situation any longer.

 

Travis Chrisman Steps Down at New Diana

New Diana head coach Travis Chrisman plans on resigning his post upon a return to school as NDISD posted their head coaching position on Tuesday afternoon. Chrisman informed Dave Campbell’s Texas Football that his intention was to resign from his post after two seasons, where he posted a 9-12 overall record. Chrisman apparently does have another position lined up as an assistant in the Hill County, but he won’t be able to sign his contract until school is back in session.

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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.

May 1-2: El Paso Football Clinic, El Paso

May 15-16: I-45 Clinic, The Woodlands

June 11-13: Angelo Football Clinic, San Angelo

June 11-13: Dos Amigos Clinic, Eagle Pass

July 19-21: 2020 THSCA Coaches Convention & Coaching School, San Antonio

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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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