{"id":126173,"date":"2026-01-16T20:23:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T20:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/126173\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T20:23:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T20:23:21","slug":"why-area-colleges-are-coveting-texas-high-school-football-coaches-now-more-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/126173\/","title":{"rendered":"Why area colleges are coveting Texas high school football coaches now more than ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Neal Brown was hired as North Texas\u2019 next head football coach in December<\/a>, Texas Tech<\/a> head coach Joey McGuire wasted little time reaching out with a congratulatory text.<\/p>\n

The two crossed paths in the Big 12 during Brown\u2019s tenure at West Virginia, and McGuire wanted to welcome him back to Texas for a third coaching stint in the state \u2014 along with a bit of unsolicited advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sent him a text, and I said, \u2018Hey, congratulations. You don\u2019t need my help, but I would hire Ray Gates,\u2019\u201d McGuire said.<\/p>\n

The advice was well-received. Already intent on adding a DFW-area high school coach to his staff, Brown began calling trusted contacts \u2014 including Texas<\/a>\u2019 Chris Gilbert and Baylor<\/a>\u2019s David Wetzel \u2014 for recommendations. One name kept surfacing: Gates, the longtime North Crowley head coach, who had just led the team to a state championship in 2024.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe doors that began to open and the ones that began to close, I felt God was pushing me and leading me this way,\u201d Gates said. \u201cIt just led to affirmation like this is where I needed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

After 17 years in high school football, Gates joined Brown\u2019s staff as North Texas\u2019 defensive line coach<\/a>. He became the first in a longer-than-usual list of prominent Dallas-area high school coaches to make the jump to college football this cycle. Soon after, Southlake Carroll head coach Riley Dodge<\/a> and South Oak Cliff defensive coordinator Kyle Ward left their programs for roles on Rhett Lashlee\u2019s staff at SMU<\/a>, while Argyle Liberty Christian coach and former Dallas Cowboy Jason Witten joined Oklahoma as its tight ends coach<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The pipeline from Texas high school football to the college ranks is nothing new. McGuire and UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor \u2014 the longtime Gilmer High School coach \u2014 are among the most visible examples of what high school coaches can become when given an opportunity at the next level.<\/p>\n

As college football continues to evolve and recruiting grows increasingly complex, coaches across the state are seeing greater value in strengthening ties to local high schools. One of the most effective ways to do that, they\u2019ve found, is hiring from within those ranks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always thought the best coaches in the world are high school coaches,\u201d Lashlee said. \u201cPro coaches, they\u2019re gurus, but they also have the best players. Us, we have good players, but in high school, that\u2019s the purest form of coaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do it for the right reasons, and I think that\u2019s what value they add.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Southlake<\/p>\n

Southlake Carroll head coach Riley Dodge talks with a referee after being stopped at the goal line on fourth down during the fourth quarter of a Class 6A Division II state semifinal game against DeSoto, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Mansfield. DeSoto defeated Southlake Carroll 57-44.<\/p>\n

El\u00edas Valverde II \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Breaking barriers<\/p>\n

Days after Gates announced his move to North Texas, Lashlee publicly praised the hire \u2014 and acknowledged how SMU<\/a> always keeps its eye on some of the area\u2019s top high school coaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely there\u2019s a short list of guys that if the right job on our staff came open, I would definitely consider,\u201d Lashlee said.<\/p>\n

Within weeks, those openings materialized, and SMU added two Texas high school coaches to its staff.<\/p>\n

Lashlee hired Ward, who helped lead the SOC to three state titles in five consecutive championship appearances dating back to 2021, to become SMU\u2019s safeties coach.<\/p>\n

He also brought on Dodge, longtime Southlake Carroll head coach who led Carroll to a state runner-up finish in 2024. <\/p>\n

Dodge started his coaching career as the quarterbacks coach at Texas for two seasons in 2013-14 before spending the next dozen years at the high school level. His name had been mentioned in a number of college coaching searches in recent years, but he was waiting for the right opportunity \u2014 and felt like that would be at SMU.<\/p>\n

\u201c[SMU has] always been one that I\u2019ve kind of told myself, if the right opportunity presented itself at the right time, then I was going to really entertain it,\u201d he said. \u201cI really believe in [Lashlee] and the culture at SMU.\u201d<\/p>\n

The belief goes both ways. Lashlee said trust is often the biggest hurdle high school coaches face when moving up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question is always, \u2018Well, has he done it before?\u201d Lashlee said. \u201cAll of us at some point in time had that said of us until someone gave us a chance to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown once had six former high school coaches on his staff at Troy who followed him to West Virginia. McGuire currently has eight at Tech. Whether it\u2019s adjusting to scholarship limits, navigating the transfer portal or settling into a smaller role, the head coaches agree there\u2019s a transition.<\/p>\n

The football, however, is rarely the concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go in all the time to [special teams coordinator] Kenny Perry, who was a head coach at three different places, [director of player development] Dave Martin, who was a head coach for 17 years, and say, \u2018OK, take your special teams coordinator hat off and put your head coaching hat on,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cThey have a reference point that they can draw on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire holds the trophy after their victory against the BYU in the Big 12 Championship football game at AT&T Stadium, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Arlington. <\/p>\n

Chitose Suzuki \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

A strong bond between levels<\/p>\n

The path from high school head coach to college head coach in Texas predates McGuire and Traylor.<\/p>\n

Art Briles won four state championships at Stephenville in the 1990s before becoming head coach at Houston (2003-07) and later Baylor (2008-15). Chad Morris led Lake Travis to back-to-back 16-0 title seasons in 2008 and 2009 before beginning his long journey at the college level with stops as head coach at SMU and Arkansas. Riley\u2019s father Todd Dodge made the rare leap from high school head coach to college head coach at North Texas in 2007 before later returning to the high school ranks.<\/p>\n

Now, McGuire has led Tech to its first Big 12 title and College Football Playoff appearance. Traylor led UTSA to consecutive Conference USA titles in 2021 and 2022.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re proof the gamble can pay off.<\/p>\n

Texas High School Coaches Association Executive Director Joe Martin \u2014 who said he knows of three other high school coaches who turned down college jobs this cycle \u2014 says the hires come down to the relationships and similarities between coaches at both levels in Texas.<\/p>\n

Texas is the only state where high school football is played under NCAA rules, and the 16-week season mirrors the current college calendar.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a really good relationship because we communicate,\u201d Martin said. \u201cWe have a program in Texas called straight line recruiting, and we ask those college coaches to go through our high school coaches to recruit our high school players and not to go through an agent or somebody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

That transparency keeps high school coaches current on recruiting changes \u2014 knowledge college coaches increasingly want on staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a while since I\u2019ve been recruiting in Texas,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI wanted someone that was really locked in, especially to the D-FW area, that was well-respected by his peers and that would have a good feel for what\u2019s going on in high school football.\u201d<\/p>\n

College head coaches in the state are hopeful their hires will pan out like previous ones have. Their new assistants are eager to prove, once again, Texas high school coaches belong on any staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get a coach out of the state, you\u2019re getting someone that\u2019s prepared and that\u2019s ready and can make the jump,\u201d Gates said. <\/p>\n

Twitter\/X: @Lassimak<\/a><\/p>\n

Transfer portal superlatives: Biggest winners, losers of college football\u2019s wildest ride<\/a>2026 NCAA football transfer portal: Tracking moves for Texas Tech, SMU, other area schools<\/a><\/p>\n

Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Neal Brown was hired as North Texas\u2019 next head football coach in December, Texas Tech head coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3688,102,104,103,300,1227,7284,415,9365],"class_list":["post-126173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-colleges","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-football","tag-high-schools","tag-smu-mustangs","tag-texas-tech-red-raiders","tag-unt-mean-green"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}