For the first time in the 2019, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football summer magazine conducted a wide-ranging high school coaches survey featuring more than 250 participants.
Texas Football asked coaches about a plethora of issues, from the best high school coach in Texas (Katy's Gary Joseph was their pick) to the toughest aspect of their job that people don’t realize (dealing with parents). But at the end, there was a college question: Which of the 12 FBS coaches in Texas would you say you trust the most?
The top pick isn’t surprising — TCU coach Gary Patterson has been around for 20 years. Whether you like him or not, you know exactly who he is. Sonny Dykes, Tom Herman and Seth Littrell also rank in the top five. Dykes is a Texas royalty, and both Herman and Littrell have quality years across the state.
However, No. 2 is unexpected: Baylor coach Matt Rhule. Rhule carried 21.5 percent of the vote, as much as the coaches at Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech combined.
Rhule has only coached in the state for two years — in many ways, he’s a carpetbagger via New York City and Philadelphia. The closest he’s ever coached to Texas was a short stint at Western Carolina, a cool 1,019 miles from Waco. In perhaps the most territorial state in America, there’s no reason Texas high school coaches should vote for him.
“It’s not easy for a guy like that to become accepted down here,” said Rodney Webb, head coach at Rockwall High School and president of the Texas High School Coaches Association. “It’s remarkable to me how a guy who has no roots in Texas has come to our state and ensconced himself in the culture down here.
“It’s just amazing. It’s just amazing that he’s done that.”