Manor’s Keller leads renaissance
MANOR — Manor football coach James Keller overlooks the Mustangs’ new indoor practice field and sees a football program with a great future.
The practice facility, which opened this year with a $7.8 million price tag, is certainly a status symbol. It represents a football program that has become a feeder system to college football programs and has produced players in the last two NFL drafts. It also reflects a growing community that supports high school athletics in Manor.
Seven Mustangs from this past season’s football team signed to play college football. And Manor High has recently become a breeding ground for the NFL. It started when former Mustangs linebacker Ochaun Mathis, out of Nebraska, was selected in the sixth round of the 2023 draft by the Los Angeles Rams and continued when Oklahoma offensive tackle Tyler Guyton was chosen in the first round this year by the Dallas Cowboys.
There is more to come. Manor is a lock to have players drafted in three consecutive years. Former Mustangs defensive end Princely Umanmielen, now at Ole Miss, is already considered a firstround prospect for the 2025 draft. And former Mustangs running back Tajh Brooks should be a mid- or lateround pick out of Texas Tech.
The common link is Keller, a longtime assistant for Manor who will embark on his fifth season as head coach of the Mustangs this fall.
“It’s a dream to play for a state championship someday,” said Keller, who has been at the school for 19 years. “But as long as we’re putting kids in college and giving them a chance to get to the next level and get a free education, that’s what I’m most proud of.”
Manor coach: ‘We’re getting to where we need to be’
Keller is a football lifer. He was a star fullback at El Paso Parkland before moving across town to play for UTEP from 1992-95. In 2000, he
began his coaching career as an assistant at El Paso Burges for three years before moving to Manor Middle School for two years.
During Keller’s tenure at Manor High, his biggest challenges have been building depth — mainly on the offensive and defensive lines — at a school with 2,600 students. Last year, Manor’s varsity fielded 45 players while the entire program had 140. By comparison, Westlake, Lake Travis, Vandegrift and Round Rock draw up to 300 players for their respective teams.
Manor has had mixed results over the last 10 years, going 54-57. They have reached the playoffs, though, seven times during that span.
“We’re getting to where we need to be,” said Keller, who expects a record 85-90 freshman this fall.
Setting players up for college
No player from the current team has been more successful than offensive lineman JT Thomas. The valedictorian of the senior class, he signed to play at Air Force. On Monday, he could be seen lifting weights at the Mustangs’ spacious weight room.
Thomas said that while he had doubts that he would ever player bigtime college football, he changed his mind after a private discussion with Keller on just how good a future he has. Thomas chose Air Force over Navy, Prairie View A&M and Rice.
“If you come to Manor, and you work hard, it’s a given you will go somewhere,” Thomas said. “It might not be Texas, but they will get you to the next level.”
Thomas wants to go to medical school after he graduates from the Academy and then become a maternalfetal medicine physician to help women with high-risk pregnancies. He chose that field because “several women” in his life have suffered miscarriages or have died giving birth.
Keller tells a funny story about Guyton, the Cowboys’ latest first-round draft pick.
Guyton did not play high school football until his senior season because he wasn’t dedicated to the sport, Keller said. Instead, he fancied himself as a 6foot-7, 300-pound basketball player.
“He looked like Shaq playing basketball,” Keller said.
When Keller convinced Guyton to play football, Guyton chose to be on the defensive line, even though the coach told him he would have a better opportunity to play in college if he played on the offensive line. Guyton wouldn’t budge.
When TCU signed him to an athletic scholarship, the Horned Frogs immediately shifted him to the offensive line. He would play the same position when he transferred to Oklahoma and the rest is history.
Guyton now is among about 100 former Manor players who are spotlighted on the school’s Wall of Fame at the football facility. The framed photos are of Mustangs who have gone on to play in college. Tyler Guyton Day will be celebrated May 17 in the town of Manor. Mayor Christopher Harvey will read a proclamation in honor of Guyton and the school will follow with a pep rally.