Beyond the Lights: Football Across Texas

Episode 72: Brennan Whitaker, head football coach and athletic director for De Leon ISD finishes out our series on summer strength and conditioning programs.

Brennan Whitaker, head football coach and athletic director for the De Leon athletic program, has returned to small town football.  Maybe not his hometown, but back to his small town football roots.  After spending several years in the bright lights of Southlake Carrol and Birdville he took over the Bearcat program and brought the big school philosophy with him.  Implementing everything he learned from his years playing college ball and coaching in the metroplex, he has adapted those philosophies to fit 2A football.  This produced good results with a 9-4 record in his debut season.  Having year one under his belt, he has high expectations for the years to come!

Episode 71: Brandon Schmidt, head football coach and athletic coordinator A&M Consolidated, talks Tiger football in our 3rd episode of the summer strength and conditioning series.

Brandon Schmidt, head football coach and athletic coordinator for A&M Consolidated High School, has never known anything different than the field house and the gym.  Growing up in a coaching family, he never thought about doing anything else after his playing days were done.  He was patient and happy in his situations as a coordinator, but once the opportunity presented itself, he never looked back.  With 7 years as the head coach at 6A Prosper, he built an impressive 67-24 record.  In 3 years as the head coach for the Consolidated Tigers, they are 31-8.  But his emphasis is not on winning, it is on his four core values:  Service to others, Honor the team, Belief in the Process, and Expect Excellence.  Coach Schmidt holds his kids accountable to these values and it shows in his program.

Episode 70: head football coach and athletic director for the Wimberley Texans, Wesley Lambert, takes us through our second episode of the summer workout series.

Wesley Lambert , head football coach and athletic director for Wimberley ISD, decided early on that he wanted to sink his roots deep and keep his family in one place, and that is exactly what the Lambert family has done.  Returning to his wife Lacey's hometown, they have been in Wimberley now since 2011.  With both Coach Lamberts leading the program, (Lacey is the girls coordinator) they are planted firmly in the hill country, leading one of the most consistently competitive school districts in the state.   

Episode 69: Head football coach and athletic coordinator for the Abilene High Eagles kicks off our series on summer workouts.

From “the Graveyard” of San Saba (if you know about that, you know your Texas football) to the big time Friday night lights of west Texas 5A football, Mike Fullen has seen it all in his 30 plus years of coaching.  As head football coach and athletic coordinator for the Abilene High Eagles, Coach Fullen knows the demands of running a successful athletic program and the challenges of being in a large district in west Texas, where travel times for district games are similar to vacation road trips for our more densely populated area schools.  His longevity with the district brings a consistency that is one of many reasons for his continued success in a very competitive area of the state.

Episode 68: Head football coach for the Wall Hawks, Craig Slaughter, closes out our series on in-season practice scheduling, and we talk other stuff.

Craig Slaughter, head football coach for Wall ISD, is no stranger to the football  life.  Growing up a coaches kid, with other coaching relatives as well, he never thought of doing anything else.  His years of experience on both sides of the ball have proved valuable to the Wall program, where he served as the DC for 7 years before taking over two years ago.  Transitioning from a run-heavy offense to the spread, the Hawks haven't missed a beat the last two years and finished a perfect season at 16-0 this past year to win the 3A-2 state championship.  Coach Slaughter is proud of his hard working country kids and the community that he, his wife and daughter call home.

Episode 67: Jeryl Brixey, head football coach for the Brownwood Lions, takes us through our 4th episode of our in-season practice schedule series.

For Brownwood's head football coach, Jeryl Brixey, winning is found in the margins.  He believes it's the little things that many programs overlook that make the difference between average and great.  As he continues our series on in-season practice scheduling, it is obvious that no part of the game is overlooked in his planning.  With new facilities being finished up, including an overhaul of Gordon Wood Stadium, Brownwood is set to continue their strong winning tradition and do it in first class style.

Episode 66: Head football coach for the Hillsboro Eagles, Leeland Hamilton, continues our series on in-season practice scheduling.

New head football coach for Hillsboro ISD, Leeland Hamilton, is making his debut in the head coaching ranks to lead the Eagles program.  Moving to a mostly new district this year, he is excited about the opportunities this town and school district have to offer and more importantly, for what he can bring to this community.  Coming from a large 6A program at Katy Morton Ranch, he will have to make some adjustments to the smaller numbers as he will work to 2-platoon his athletes as much as he can.  Having connections at the NFL, college and high school levels, Coach Hamilton will have all the resources he needs to pull from to get his new program where he wants it to be.

Episode 65: Larry Hill, head football coach and athletic coordinator for the Smithson Valley Rangers, talks in-season practice scheduling in episode 2 of this series.

Coach Larry Hill has been the head football coach in Smithson Valley for over 30 years.  This kind of longevity is almost unheard of in todays coaching world.  Growing up watching his father and his influence on young men and idolizing some of the greats, like Tom Landry, Bear Bryant and Darrell Royal, Coach Hill never second guessed his decision to enter the coaching profession.  His commitment to excellence and his motto of "do what we do better than they do what they do" has established a strong winning tradition for the Rangers and himself personally, having over 300 wins as a head coach.

Episode 64: Randy Jackson begins our series on in-season practice plans.

This is our 3rd time to talk with Coach Randy Jackson on the show.  Coach Jackson has over 30 years experience from high school to professional.  This episode kicks off our first in a series on in-season practice planning.  We discuss his favorite way of scheduling the week's practices and specifics with daily breakdowns so you can get the most of out of your time on the field.

Episode 63: Head football coach and athletic director for Brady ISD, Jaron Roberts, talks off-season and defending public schools.

Head football coach and athletic director for the Brady Bulldogs, Jaron Roberts had been looking for the opportunity to get back close to he and his wife’s hometown of Comanche.  That chance finally came when he landed the head job in Brady.  In the last two seasons he has put up impressive records of 8-3 and 7-4.  This next alignment they will be dropping down from 3A to 2A and with their Tough People Win (TPW) mentality, they hope to expand on the success of the last two seasons.