These are the 10 Longest Active TXHSFB Coaches

10. Bobby Estes (28 years)

Resume:

• Woodrow Wilson: 1997-2018
• North Dallas: 2019-21
• Dallas Jefferson: 2023-Present

Bobby Estes is the architect of one of the state’s most underrated program builds. He was hired at Dallas Woodrow Wilson in the midst of a 1-19 skid. The Wildcats had one winning season in the previous decade. After six seasons fixing the culture at Woodrow Wilson, Estes’s squad reached the postseason in 14 of the next 16 seasons. Estes has spent three seasons each at North Dallas and Dallas Jefferson.

9. Ricky Lock (30 years)

Resume: 

• Runge: 1996-98
• Elgin: 1999-2003
• Woodville: 2004-06
• Gonzales: 2007
• Gainesville: 2008-09
• Gonzales: 2010-13
• San Antonio Southside: 2014-Present

Lock has a history of winning at places no one else can.

When Lock arrived at San Antonio Southside in 2014, the program had made four playoff appearances in 62 years. The Cardinals have since made the playoffs in ten of the last 12 seasons and have won four district titles. 

His career started at Runge in 1996. Lock’s back-to-back ten-win seasons are the last time the Yellow Jackets won double-digit games. In 2007, at Gonzales, he produced the first ten-win season since 1963.

8. Brent Davis (31 years)

Resume:

• Banquete: 1995-97
• Sinton: 1998-01
• The Colony: 2002-04
• Alice: 2005-08
• San Angelo Central: 2009-20
• Gregory-Portland: 2021-Present

You cannot tell the story of high school football in the Coastal Bend without Brent Davis. But this narrative started long before Davis led Gregory-Portland to at least the second round of the playoffs in four of the last five seasons.

In his first head coaching job at Banquete in 1996, Davis led the Bulldogs to their first playoff appearance in 23 years. Davis took Sinton to their only state championship appearance in 2001, then brought Alice to its first undefeated district championship in 23 years during the 2008 season. 

But Davis has also proven his record transcends geography. When he took over at San Angelo Central in 2009, the Bobcats were mired in a 13-game losing streak. Davis won six district championships and won double-digit games every year from 2013-17.

7. Richard Barrett (31 years)

Resume:

• Godley: 1995-2000
• Kennedale: 2001-Present

Few things in life are more consistent than death, taxes, and Richard Barrett running the Wing-T at Kennedale. 

Barrett has spent 25 years at the helm of this Class 4A program just southeast of Fort Worth. The playbook has not changed much since Day One, and neither has the standard. Kennedale won 58 consecutive district games from 2011-22 and had 24 consecutive winning seasons from 2000-23. 

While Kennedale is coming off back-to-back six-win seasons for the first time since Barrett took over, hopes are high with returning First Team All-District safety Landon Watkins (56 tackles, four INT).

Tied 6th. Tony Villarreal (33 years)

Resume:

• Port Isabel: 1990-95
• PSJA North: 1996-97
• Brownsville Hanna: 1998-2004
• Weslaco: 2005-16
• Port Isabel: 2020-25

How many Hall of Famers are actively coaching TXHSFB? There are few like Tony Villarreal, a Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Famer who has led Port Isabel to five consecutive playoff berths in his second act at the school.

Villarreal, one of the original adopters of the Slot-T offense, started his coaching career at Port Isabel in 1990. His revolutionary offense led the program to the 1994 state semifinals, widely considered one of the most memorable seasons in the Valley. After retiring in 2016, Villarreal returned to coaching - and the place where it all began - in 2020. He inherited a Port Isabel program coming off three straight losing seasons. The Tarpons have won four consecutive district championships.

Tied 6th. David Sanchez (33 years)

Resume:

• 1993-98: Laredo Nixon
• 1999-2002: San Antonio Holmes
• 2003-Present: Laredo United

Sanchez is the winningest Hispanic head coach in TXHSFB, with a career record of 248-132.

He took his first head coaching job in 1993 at a Laredo Nixon program that had combined for 10 wins over the previous five years. Sanchez led them to five straight playoff berths, including Laredo ISD’s first bi-district championship in 1997. 

Sanchez pulled a similar reclamation act at Laredo United. The Longhorns had made the playoffs six times from 1964 to 2002. Sanchez has turned the playoffs into an expectation at Laredo United. The Longhorns have only missed the postseason tournament three times in his tenure, which began in 2003. Laredo United has made the third round of the playoffs nine times under Sanchez’s watch. In 2026, they seek to become the first Laredo ISD program to ever make the fourth round of the playoffs with returning WR Colt Lozano (110 receptions, 1,859 yards, 27 TD).

4. Larry Hill (35 years)

Resume:

• Jourdanton: 1989-90
• Smithson Valley: 1993-Present

The Smithson Valley that Larry Hill took over in 1993 had no identity. There is no town of Smithson Valley. It’s just a 5A high school in the middle of ranchland, 40 minutes north of San Antonio. The Rangers also had no winning tradition, holding an all-time record of 42-120-5.

Fast forward to 2026, and Smithson Valley is perhaps the most storied and consistent program in San Antonio. The Rangers play suffocating defense with Hill and defensive coordinator Craig Wersterfer. They also never beat themselves. That’s how Hill has climbed to fourth all-time among active TXHSFB coaches with 340 wins. His 33 seasons at Smithson Valley are the second-most at one school (No. 1 will be revealed later in this list).

3. Reginald Samples (36 years)

Resume:

• Dallas Lincoln: 1990-2004
• Dallas Skyline: 2005-2014
• Duncanville: 2015-Present

Perhaps the only thing more impressive than Reginald Samples’s 365 career wins, sixth-most all-time in TXHSFB, is a coaching tree that has earned him the unofficial title “The Godfather” of Black coaches. His impact on this sport will last for decades after he hangs up the headset.

Many thought that the retirement announcement would come at the conclusion of last season. But after a 10-7 loss in the Class 6A DI State Championship, Samples and his Duncanville program have found a new motivation. 

Duncanville will be in a loaded district with North Crowley and Waxahachie, but nobody’s reputation precedes them like Samples. In the last 26 seasons as a head coach, Samples has won fewer than 10 games just three times. He led Dallas Lincoln to its first and only state championship appearance in 2004. Samples then moved to Dallas Skyline, bringing the Raiders to five regional final appearances in eight years from 2007-14. But his most decorated stint has been at Duncanville, where the Panthers have played in six state championship games in eight years.

2. Denney Faith (39 years)

Resume:

• Albany: 1987-Present

For perspective on how long Denney Faith has been roaming the sidelines at Albany, his first season was during Black Monday on Wall Street, the largest one-day percentage decline ever in the stock market. Faith is the active leader among all TXHSFB coaches with the most seasons at a single school (39). He’s chasing former Buda Hays coach Bob Shelton’s 43-year record from 1968-2010.

Since 2003, Faith’s Lions have reached at least the third round of the playoffs in all but three seasons… when they made the second round of the playoffs. After losing his first four trips to the state championship game in 1991, 2009, 2014, and 2015, Faith had a cathartic back-to-back run in 2022 and 2023.

1. Randy Allen (45 years)

Resume:

• Ballinger: 1981-85
• Brownwood: 1986-90
• Abilene Cooper: 1991-98
• Highland Park: 1999-Present

Randy Allen is the winningest active head coach in TXHSFB with 472 wins, one of three all-time head coaches to reach 400 wins. The pedigree and longevity are both astounding. Second-place Denney Faith, who has been at Albany for 39 years, is 93 wins behind Allen. 

Allen is now chasing Phil Danaher for the all-time winningest coach title in TXHSFB. The only way he can tie Danaher this year is if Highland Park goes 16-0. While that record might be a couple of seasons away, Allen needs just one more playoff win to pass Danaher with 94 all-time, the most in state history. With three-year starting QB Buck Randall back at the helm, it’s likely that it will happen in 2026.