High school confidential

All-Star game rosters released

The rosters for the all-star games at the Texas High School Coaches Association convention in San Antonio have been released.

The football roster, in pdf form, is here.

The basketball roster, in pdf form, is here.

The area players for the North in the football game are kicker Ben Parks of Argyle, quarterback Riley Dodge of Carroll, defensive end R.J. Washington of Fossil Ridge, running back Samir Baker of Trinity, running back C.J. Jennings of Everman and offensive lineman Michael Yeck of Keller. The North coach is Darren Allman of Odessa Permian.

The area players for the North in the basketball game are forward Cory Dixon of Argyle, guard Tim Meadows of Crowley and forward Darren Houliston of Trinity. The North coach is James Mays of South Oak Cliff.

The football game is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 29, at the Alamodome. The basketball game is at 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 28, at St. Mary's University. The North coach is

Coaches Association predictions released

The Texas High School Coaches Association holds its annual convention and all-star games July 27-30 in San Antonio, but the group has already announced projected 2008 district winners in football. In 3-5A, Abilene High is favored over area schools Burleson, North Crowley, Weatherford, Richland, FW Paschal and Haltom. Abilene eliminated Southlake Carroll from the 2007 playoffs. In 4-5A, Arlington Bowie is picked to win, while 2007 5A Division I champ Euless Trinity is favored in 5-5A, and Carroll's is expected to win in 6-5A. Aledo (6-4A), FW Southwest (7-4A) and Everman (8-4A) are the projected district champs among area 4A schools. In 3A, Kaufman (12-3A) is favored over area teams Kennedale and Alvarado, while Lake Worth, Dallas Madison and Dallas Roosevelt tied atop 11-3A.

   

Glen Rose officially names Dunn coach

As expected, Glen Rose promoted offensive coordinator Tommy Dunn to head coach/athletics director, superintendent Wayne Rotan said Tuesday. Dunn, who will make $80,000, has been at Glen Rose the past two years, helping the Tigers win back-to-back district titles and making its deepest-ever playoff run last season to the Class 3A Division II quarterfinals under head coach Erik Slaughter. Slaughter, who was expected to become Stephenville's coach before withdrawing his name, resigned earlier this month for undisclosed personal reasons. "Coach Dunn has done a great job with the offense and working with our players the past two years," Rotan said. "He's been a great part of our program and we're excited about getting him on board."

Brewer's next addition could be McMath

La Marque assistant athletic director Charlie McMath will be the next head coach and AD at White Settlement Brewer, pending approval by the White Settlement ISD board of trustees.
The board will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday and will vote on a contract for McMath, who was the lone finalist for the job.
McMath has 20 years of coaching experience, and previously served as the head football coach and AD in the Woodsboro and Miles school districts. He helped La Marque post a 9-3 record last season.
According to the White Settlement ISD, there were 125 applicants for the Brewer job, and 12 were interviewed. The job opened in December after the school district reached a settlement with former coach Mark Cunningham, who went 1-9 last season.

Glen Rose coach placed on leave

Glen Rose coach Erik Slaughter is on administrative leave, Glen Rose superintendent Wayne Rotan confirmed Monday. Rotan did not specify the issue as to why Slaughter is on leave, but said, "It's still under investigation. We'll make an announcement at the end of that. I do not know how long it's going to be and I cannot say much else." Earlier this month, Slaughter was named the lone finalist for the Stephenville job. However, surprisingly, Slaughter, who was an assistant at Stephenville for nine years under Art Briles, withdrew his name a day after being named the finalist.

--Drew Davison

Stephenville set to hire Glen Rose coach

Stephenville is set to name Glen Rose coach Erik Slaughter its new head football coach, pending board approval Friday. Slaughter, who spent the past two years at Glen Rose, led the Tigers on their longest-ever playoff run this past season, making it to the third round before falling to eventual state champ Celina. Slaughter seemed like a natural fit to take over for Chad Morris, who took the head coaching postion at Austin Lake Travis. Slaughter was an assistant under Art Briles, from 1990-98, during three of Stephenville's four state title runs. "It's a great job and a great opportunity," Slaughter said. "Stephenville is an important place to me. Being part of that program was special and I went to school at Tarleton State. I have a lot of fond memories of Stephenville and look forward to get back there." Slaughter did not disclose his salary range. One of the other candidates for the job, former Stephenville assistant Joseph Gillespie, will become Slaughter's assistant head coach / defensive coordiantor.

-- Drew Davison

Stephenville busy with coach search

Stephenville superintendent Dr. Darrell Floyd wants to have a new head football coach in place by Feb. 18 to present to the board of trustees for approval. Floyd wants to move the process along quickly after Chad Morris left the Yellow Jackets for Austin Lake Travis earlier this week.
According to Floyd, Morris will make $108,120 at Lake Travis, about a $21,000 increase from his approximate $87,000 salary at Stephenville. Floyd said the new coaches’ compensation is negotiable.
While Floyd said he "hated to lose" Morris, he has already begun the search process by putting together a search committee of himself, the two Stephenville school district assistant superintendents, the high school principal, the junior high school principal, a parent of a male and female athlete, a community member and the head athletic trainer.
Floyd said he intends to interview both internal and external candidates, but added: "I have not received any applications from an internal candidate yet. We’re trying to find the best available candidate. This is a big deal, at least in the Stephenville community, and we need to find the right person."

Lake Travis hires Stephenville coach

Stephenville coach Chad Morris did everything to talk himself out of leaving a program that he led to four playoff appearances in five years. But Morris eventually agreed to become the new Austin Lake Travis coach, replacing Jeff Dicus, who left for Class 5A Duncanville. “It was a very gut-wrenching decision,” Morris said. “The relationships that we built with the kids and the community support made it very difficult and hard to leave. A lot of tears were shed during this decision. I looked at what’s best for my family and this is something I had to do.” Morris said the Lake Travis school district would release the salary range at the end of the week. In five seasons at Stephenville, Morris led the Yellow Jackets to a 49-10 record. Now, he takes over a team that is fresh off a 2007 Class 4A, Division II championship. Stephenville’s best season under Morris was 2005’s 13-1 state semifinal run. “The tradition that coach Dicus has built there over the last five years, the growth, the type of kids they have and the potential for success was a big draw,” Morris said. “I had a list of things that I wanted and they met them all.” That list began with being able to bring some of his assistants with him, especially defensive coordinator Hank Carter. Other coaches likely to follow Morris include offensive line coach Kyle Spano and assistants Justin Mueller and Matt Green. Stephenville superintendent Darrell Floyd is now heading the search for a new football coach. “I did give some input in the search in what direction I thought they should go,” Morris said. “My push is to hire someone on the staff. I think that’s the right thing for the kids. There’s a coach on our staff that is qualified.” Before Stephenville, Morris compiled an 86-27 record at Bay City, Elysian Fields and Eustace. Bay City won the 4A Division II title in 2000.

-Drew Davison

New and old

Joshua football coach Phil Shaffer spent much of Friday morning meeting the new football coaches in his district.

The new eight-team District 8-4A includes Arlington Seguin, Crowley, Everman, Granbury, Mansfield Legacy, Mansfield Timberview and Stephenville.

Shaffer met the new coaches at Seguin, Granbury and Legacy but Timberview coach Terry Cron is already a familiar face to Shaffer. In 1989, Shaffer was the football coach at Leander Junior High -- the same year Cron was working at Leander High School. Joshua also played Timberview in a nondistrict game four years ago. It was Timberview’s first varsity season.

``I’ve known Cron for years,” Shaffer said. ``I think our district is going to be very competitive from top to bottom.”

--  Kelly Morris

A first for Cook

Fort Worth Paschal football coach Matt Cook experienced the chaos of UIL’s realignment for the first time Friday morning.

Like many of the other coaches, he arrived at 8 a.m.-- an hour before the official announcement at the Birdville Fine Arts/Athletic Center.

``It was pretty much what I expected,” Cook said. ``It was exciting to see how important it is to everyone.”

Paschal will play in District 3-5A with Abilene, Burleson, Haltom, Richland, North Crowley and Weatherford. The Panthers won’t play Mansfield Summit, Mansfield and Mansfield Timberview in district anymore but gain Abilene, Haltom and Richland.

``We thought we’d stay with the Mansfield schools, but change is good,” Cook said. ``I am excited about playing Abilene. I respect their coaching staff and they do a lot of different things offensively like making their tight end look like a tackle. It will be a challenge for us, but I look forward to coaching against that.”

Cook said a road trip to Abilene will also be like a playoff experience for his team. Some of his players already called him today asking when they’re going to Abilene.  

Because Paschal’s program is still developing, Cook said it will benefit the team having four nondistrict games instead of three games to prepare for district.

-- Kelly Morris