Lehman hires ex-El Paso Parkland football coach
Central Texas’ reputation lures Kirkland to area.
If the 2016 season is any indication, Lehman High’s new varsity football coach knows a thing or two about offense.
Josh Kirkland comes to Lehman from Parkland High in El Paso, where he led a Class 5A team that averaged 529 yards of offense last season. That figure ranked seventh in the state for all UIL classifications, according to MaxPreps.
Parkland finished 8-4 last fall and expects to return the nucleus of offensive players that helped the Matadors reach the area round of the 5A, Division II playoffs. Yet the lure of coaching in Central Texas led him to Lehman, Kirkland said Thursday.
“The first thing is coming to the Austin area, which I consider to have some of the best high school football in the state of Texas,” Kirkland said as he drove from El Paso to Kyle. “At Lehman, I’m going to a place that is set up to succeed. In two or three years, I see the city just exploding.”
Kirkland was referring to the city’s population growth. According to the U.S. Census, Kyle grew from roughly 5,000 residents in 2000 to 37,500 in 2016.
The Hays school district’s board of trustees approved Kirkland’s hiring during a special meeting Wednesday night. He also will be the boys athletic coordinator at Lehman.
Kirkland, 33, said he will start his new job Friday.
He replaces Todd Raymond, who resigned in April to become athletic director for the Pflugerville school district. In five seasons with the Lobos, Raymond compiled a 9-41 mark. Since its first varsity season in 2006, Lehman has posted a winning record only once, finishing 6-4 in 2011.
Kirkland is a graduate of West Texas A&M. He and his wife, Marina, have two sons — 5-year-old Kash and 2-year-old Krew.
“We are all impressed with his coaching and leadership qualifications, as well as his passion for character development,” said Lehman principal Denisha Presley. “He is going to be an outstanding addition to our Lobo family.”
In his one season at Parkland, Kirkland coached Deion Hankins,who ranked third in the state with an average of 234.3 rushing yards per game. Only Kennedy Brooks of Mansfield (267.9) and Calvin Tyler of Silsbee (260.1) topped Hankins’ output.
Parkland also received a boost from one of El Paso’s top quarterbacks, A.J. Briggs, who passed for 2,412 yards in 2016.
Kirkland became the third head football coach hired recently by an Austin-area school.
Hyde Park has named Chuck Petersen of Lutheran High in Orange, Calif., as the replacement for Dean Campbell, who has decided to retire. The Panthers finished 7-4 in 2016.
At Bartlett, Katy Mayde Creek co-defensive coordinator Drew Bridges will become the head coach, replacing Melvin Bates. Bartlett was 3-7 this past season.