Prep coaches evolve into state’s college power brokers
Originally, there were members of the Texas High School Coaches Association who weren’t in favor of Baylor’s first head coaching hire after Art Briles.
They believed Baylor needed to put someone with Texas ties in charge; someone with roots in the state that could handle the inevitable challenges on the horizon.
Some members of the THSCA even voiced that opinion to leadership at Baylor. Which is why some were disappointed when Baylor brought in Temple coach Matt Rhule, a born-in-new York Northeasterner who had never coached a day in Texas. A letter was sent from the organization to new Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades calling the hire a mistake.
Four years later, as the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, Rhule wore a THSCA hat during a game — a legendary move in the eyes of Texas high school coaches.
So, what changed? Well, Rhule did something considered extremely impressive by the state’s coaches, a move mastered by longtime Texas coach Mack Brown before him. He walked into the state, without Texas ties, and immediately unlocked inroads to every school in it. Shortly after he was hired, he even had the wherewithal to arrange a meeting with leadership at the THSCA.
“It was one of the most amazing conversations I’ve had with a FBS head coach,” said Joe Martin, the executive director of the THSCA. “It was amazing, and it set the tone for his relationships with the state of Texas.”
Martin said they wrote another letter to Rhoades and Baylor admitting it was they who were actually mistaken about the hiring of Rhule.
When it comes to relationships with Texas high school coaches, reputation is everything — and reputation can spread fast. It’s what happens when more than 14,000 of the state’s coaches meet annually for a coaching convention. Collectively, the group is one of the biggest power brokers for college football in the state, and this year’s coaching carousel proved it.
On Nov. 8, Texas Tech hired Baylor assistant coach Joey Mcguire as the school’s next head coach. Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt wanted to replace former coach Matt Wells with someone who had Texas ties. He then went out and hired a three-time state champion coach.
Mcguire wasn’t the only former high school coach Texas Tech was reportedly interested in. Former Gilmer coach Jeff Traylor was reportedly a candidate before he signed a massive extension to stay at UTSA. Former SMU head coach Sonny Dykes, another reported candidate for the Texas Tech job, started as a high school baseball coach at Richardson Pearce. TCU hired him this year, and one reason why — according to TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati — was the ability for him and his staff to recruit in the Dallas area while at SMU.
It’s cliché, but recruiting is the lifeblood of college football programs. And recruiting is based on relationships. In Texas, relationships with the state’s high school coaches might not be the reason a school signs a recruit, but it could be the reason they don’t.
“If you’re a Texas university and you don’t have somebody who’s strong in Dallas and you don’t have somebody who can recruit Dallas or someone that can relate and get you in the door with these coaches in Texas, you’re not going to win,” said Lubbock Coronado coach D.J. Mann, a former assistant at Cedar Hill.
As Rhule showed, those relationships can be developed. But sometimes it takes a little help.
Bob Wager’s Arlington Martin program consistently produces some of the best high school football players in the state. Former No. 1 overall pick Myles Garrett starred at Martin. Five-star junior Javien Toviano is set to be an Allamerican cornerback for the Warriors.
Because of this, Wager can’t even fathom just how many college coaches have come into his office over the years. He does remember the first time Rhule walked into his office, though. Mcguire, a newly hired assistant for Rhule, joined him.
“It didn’t take long to figure out Matt Rhule is a genuine guy,” Wager said, “but I do think it goes a long way to have that tie when you have someone with Texas high school football street credibility as the connector.”
It’s a credibility Mcguire earned when he was coaching at Cedar Hill. It’s an asset that drew Texas Tech to him in the school’s coaching search. It’s something he utilized immediately when he was hired.
“I say it all the time to recruits and I said it to the current team: Call your high school head coach and ask them about me,” Mcguire said. “Call your position coach and ask them about me because I think it puts them at ease.”
Mcguire knows from experience.
Coaching, Mcguire believes, is about building genuine relationships. Genuine isn’t a word that’s ever-present in recruiting. It’s a game of talent acquisition that sometimes includes noncommittable offers and broken promises. In some instances, it’s the reason a college coach will come in one year to see a five-star recruit, but not the next when the school doesn’t have that type of player. When that happens, word gets around fast among Texas high school coaches .
Mcguire has been on the other side of the table: in the office when a college coach comes recruiting one of his Cedar Hill players. He can tell what’s genuine and what isn’t. He shaped his first coaching staff at Texas Tech around it.
“There were very few guys I hired that at one point hadn’t been on Cedar Hill’s campus when I was a high school coach,” Mcguire said.
As for Traylor, he saw what genuine recruiting looked like, as well.
He had a house on the lake at Gilmer. They’d hang out there on the deck and grill hamburgers. Being a former high school coach gave Traylor an idea of how he wanted to recruit when he got to Texas and then to Arkansas. And when he got to UTSA, it gave him an idea of how he wanted his staff to recruit, as well.
“We don’t much recruit much out of the state,” Traylor said, “so I only give my coaches each about 100 schools because I want them to spend quality time with those coaches.”
It’s an emphasis for Traylor because he knows how important relationships with Texas high school coaches can be. And if he ever forgets, all he has to do is look at his phone contacts list.
“I’ve had the same phone number since 2001, so I’ve got about 27,000 contacts in my phone,” Traylor said, “and I’d say a lot of them are Texas high school football coaches.”
Traylor has to pay for extra data, but he believes it’s worth it. He also believes in doing what he can to keep his genuine reputation with Texas high school coaches intact. To show it, he wore a THSCA hat — just like Rhule did — during UTSA’S 38-24 Frisco Bowl loss to San Diego State in December.
There’s an undeniable connection between Texas high school coaches and the state’s colleges. During this year’s coaching carousel, that connection proved to be an emphasis.