La Grange ISD on Friday night named Ponder head coach Kyle Cooper as their next athletic director/head football coach replacing Matt Kates who resigned his post in mid-January after thirteen years at the helm.

Cooper, a graduate of Angelo State has been a head coach for fourteen seasons with an overall record of 70-80, he spent a dozen seasons leading Gatesville from 2007-2018, including leading the Hornets to a 13-1 record in 2012.

Coach Cooper departed Gatesville in the summer of 2019 and joined the staff at Mount Vernon where he spent two seasons as an assistant on the Tigers staff where he was part of Mount Vernon’s state semifinal run. Cooper the past two years has been Ponder’s head coach where he’s posted a 7-13 overall record.

“La Grange is a great community, they’ve had a ton of success in all sports and there’s potential to continue that success. I’ve coached against (La Grange Superintendent) Coach McHazlett a few times and I know what kind of leader he is and I’m excited to work with him and be a part of the La Grange community. I want to thank Ponder, it’s been a great two years, it’s never easy to leave, but I am fired up to get started,” said Coach Cooper.