Merkel athletic director/head football coach Will Kates has announced that he’d be stepping down from his role to become the offensive coordinator at Eagle Mountain High School, which will begin varsity football in 2024 as a Class 4A-Division II program. 

Kates took over in 2021 as the head coach at MHS, becoming the third Kates brother at the time to become a head coach as older brother Ged Kates is currently head coach Richland and Matt Kates at the time was the head coach at La Grange. Matt Kates has since moved on to join the staff at Abilene Wylie. 

Will Kates posted a 13-18 overall record in three seasons, with the Badgers making a playoff appearance in 2022 in the ultra-competitive District 5-3A Division II. Merkel posted a 6-4 record last season and just missed out on the playoffs after a three-point loss to Eastland early in district play. 

After having three different coaches from 2019-2021, Kates did bring some stability to the Merkel athletic program in his three year stint. But the draw to return home to DFW certainly was going to be tough for Kates to resist, considering Eagle Mountain will likely grow quickly into a 5A program in the next realignment or two. 

Merkel is expected to post the job relatively quickly. The Badgers were recently moved to 4-3A Division II in last month’s realignment with the Badgers moving to Region I where they join a district with Coahoma, San Angelo Grape Creek, Stanton and Wall.