Denison ISD announced the hiring of Brian Lilly as the next athletic director/head football coach at Denison High School on Tuesday morning. 

Lilly replaces Brent Whitson, who departed to become the new athletic director at Celina ISD.

Lilly, a native of Denison and graduate of Denison High School, said this was the realization of a dream. 

“Being the head coach at Denison has been a life-long dream," he said. "I get to do what I love the most, in the place I love the most, my home. We’ve got a lot work to do, but I am beyond excited."

Lilly played his college football at Texas State and began his coaching career at Round Rock Cedar Ridge. He then left Texas to join the staff at Brentwood Academy in Tennessee where he coached under Cody White, who was Lilly’s head coach at Denison.

Lilly spent six seasons at Brentwood before spending one season at Cisco Junior College. He went back to Tennessee where he rejoined the staff at Brentwood for two additional seasons. In 2023, Lilly was named head coach at Lawson High School in Nashville, which was a new high school. He spent three seasons leading the program at Lawson before resigning in February to return to Texas where he was slated to become the defensive coordinator at Plano Senior High before taking the Denison job.

“I was a ball boy for Denison back in seventh grade," Lilly said. "That’s where I fell in love with the game. So when I got the call, it was just a sense of pride. I thought about all the people that invested in me and believed in me. I thought about them and I wouldn’t be where I’d be without those people in my life. My roots here are deep. I have family that played at Terrell High School pre-integration. I’m proud to be from Denison and I’m so proud to be the head coach at Denison."

Lilly hopes to have spring practice in May. 

“I just think having 15 practices is better than five and we’d like to get out there and put the pads on,” said Lilly, who has a 30-day plan in place.

“The biggest thing early on is building relationships, with the players, coaches and parents, all the way down to every person in the building. I’m glad the UIL gives us that time with skill development. It will be big along with summer conditioning and 7-on-7."

Denison, which posted a 4-5 record a year ago, will open the 2026 season against arch-rival Sherman, which is also looking for a new head coach after the reassignment of head coach Josh Aleman in mid-March.