At the midpoint of the Texas high school football season, some teams are ahead of schedule, others have reinvented themselves, and few are simply unstoppable. 

Here are Dave Campbell's Texas Football's selections for the Midseason Coaches of the Year:

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6A: Ervin Chandler, Princeton: After just four wins in the previous three seasons combined, Coach Chandler has the Panthers right in the thick of the playoff race in 6-6A with a 4-1 start. Moving up from 5A-Division II straight to 6A in 2024 was a major challenge for Chandler’s program, but they’ve stayed the course and it’s paying off in a big way in 2025 as Princeton has one of the state’s most explosive offensive attacks and a senior laden ball club is thriving in close games.

5A: Curtis James, Fort Worth Arlington Heights: In Year 2 leading the Yellow Jackets in West Fort Worth, James has led Heights to a dominant 5-0 start. The biggest key for the success thus far has been a lockdown defense that’s allowed just 14 points in five game and pitched four shutouts.

4A: Troy Rogers, Lampasas: After graduating a stellar group of 32 seniors and seeing their top returning player transfer out of state, many had dismissed 2025 as a rebuilding year for the Badgers. The one problem was Coach Rogers and his football team didn’t get the memo as Lampasas is off and flying in 2025 with a 5-0 start with wins over two Class 5A programs and 4A-Division II powerhouse Wimberley.

3A: Andy Cavalier, Canadian: Taking over for a legend is never easy, but Canadian’s Andy Cavalier has done it with incredible grace and humility at one of the Panhandle’s premier programs. Canadian lost most of its big names to graduation a year ago and are going with a young, but talented signal-caller. Yet the Wildcats are rolling at 5-0 and state-ranked in 3A-Division II despite a brutal schedule.

2A: Paul Gould, Frankston: Gould has the Indians off and flying at 5-0 and a contender in 2A-Division I Region II behind an explosive offensive attack. Frankston has outscored its opponents 244-82.

1A: Coleman Butter, Chester Perhaps better known as the school's baseball coach — he took the Yellowjackets to the 1A state tournament in 2023 — Butter took over as the head football coach in 2024, guiding the squad to a 4-5 record. But there's no sophomore slump here: Butter has the Yellowjackets sitting at 5-0 for the first time since 2015, including wins over private school power Houston Emery-Weiner, East Texas stalwart Union Hill and reigning state finalist Oakwood. - Greg Tepper

PVT: Stephen Byrd, Waco Valor Prep
Launching a program from scratch is tough, but that's what Byrd — a former Highland Park assistant — has done with the Knights, leading them to a 4-0 mark in just their second season of existence. It's doubly impressive that every opponent for the TAPPS Division III Valor Prep squad has been larger, either Division I or Division II. If form holds, Byrd has transformed them into a legitimate state title contender in near-record time. - Tepper

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