Nacogdoches ISD on Wednesday morning ended their search for a new head coach as Poteet head coach Darby House was named the Dragons new head coach and athletic director, replacing Darren Allman who is remaining with the district in a different role. 

House, considered one of the real up and coming head coaches in South Texas named as a Dave Campbell’s Texas Football “40 Under 40” head coaches in 2022. He’s spent the last five seasons leading Class 3A-Division I Poteet, at the age of 27 he earned his first head coaching job at Class 2A Somerville in the Bryan-College Station area where he spent one season. 

“I’m really excited to get to East Texas, it’s the football I grew up with and I’ve always loved being out there. It’s much closer to family and going through the process there’s no question in my mind that Nacogdoches has a ton of potential. While going through the process it was clear to me that Dr. Trujillo loves Nacogdoches and wants to do what it takes to win and that excites me,” said House. 

Coach House who was an assistant at Beeville Jones and Somerville before becoming a head coach took over long-struggling Poteet in 2018 and after a difficult debut season in which the Aggies went 0-10, Poteet slowly made progress posting a 3-8 mark in 2019 and advancing to the Class 4A-Division II playoffs. 

Poteet dropped to Class 3A-Division I in 2020 and despite all the challenges in South Texas due to Covid-19, Coach House’s squad went 8-3 and again earned a playoff appearance. 2021 was the high water mark for the Aggies as they posted a sensational 10-2 record, winning a district title and earning Poteet’s first playoff victory since 1958. The Aggies dropped an area round heartbreaker that year, falling to Vanderbilt Industrial 14-13. 

Coach House’s Aggies with a much younger team in 2022 posted a 6-5 mark and advanced to the playoffs for the fourth straight season. “I’ve got some unbelievable memories here in Poteet, the kids and coaches have worked so hard and I’m grateful for my time here,” said House.