A day with Kenny Perry at THSCA Coaching School and a peek into the relationships behind Texas Tech's recruiting surge

Before they were at Texas Tech, Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire established a dynasty Cedar Hill High School and assistant coach Kenny Perry notched a 67–22 record at Arlington Bowie. They've rejuvenated Texas Tech's recruiting footprint using their background to connect with high school coaches.

Carter Yates

HOUSTON - - Kenny Perry and I couldn't walk more than 20 yards at THSCA Coaching School without someone waving him down for a handshake, slaps on the back, or even a bear hug.

I was raised on Texas High School Football, but I'm overwhelmed by the amount of high school and college coaches mulling around the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston on Monday, July 17. The three-day conference set a record this year with 16,066 total attendance. It feels like Perry knows at least half of them intimately.

This is only his second year as Texas Tech’s associate head coach, but Perry’s been making this trip nearly every summer since 1993. He spent 14 seasons as a high school head coach, including a prolific 67–22 run at Arlington Bowie from 2006 to 2012. It takes me five minutes trying to keep up with him to realize why he was elected to THSCA’s Board of Directors during his time at Bowie. He's a walking Red Bull can.

We’re an odd duo making the rounds, a recent college-graduate writer getting his bearings and an alpha dog coach entirely in his element. I’ve shaken more hands in three hours than in the past year combined. Perry tells everyone I’m shadowing him for today, a crash course for my first-ever Coaching School, and they all feign surprise with some variation of, “You’ve got your work cut out following him.” It’s all ribbing indicative of longtime friends.

Perry has good reason to be cheerful after his and head coach Joey McGuire’s first year in Lubbock. Texas Tech is coming off its first winning record in Big 12 Conference play since 2009. The Red Raiders have gone a decade without a top 30-ranked recruiting class, but their 2024 cycle is hovering at No.31 with 18 total commits. All of them are from Texas.

I planned to get a glimpse on that day of what’s led to the recruiting surge, and now I see a coach inextricably linked to three generations of Texas high school football.

He catches up with retired Abilene head coach Steve Warren, who, in the 2009 Class 5A Division II playoffs, knocked off McGuire’s Cedar Hill juggernaut and Perry’s Bowie squad in back-to-back weeks en route to a state championship. It’s a loss that still gnaws at McGuire.

Then he and Bryan High School offensive coordinator Michael Waldie reminisce about their playing days. Perry played running back under the legendary Eddy Peach at Arlington Lamar, and his 1986 team entered a regular-season finale against Euless Trinity needing to lose by less than a touchdown to make the playoffs despite a 9–0 record. Lamar fell 20-10; as a result, a then-sophomore Waldie got moved up to varsity for the playoffs. Now, Waldie coaches Bryan wide receiver Tyson Turner, a Texas Tech commit.

Later he bumps into Elkins High School offensive line coach Leroy Truitt, a former teammate at the University of Houston. After, Evan Fairs bounds up to Perry for a hug. The Fulshear High School wide receiver coach played under Perry when the coach was a Kansas assistant from 2015 to 2018.

It’s 12:45 p.m., and Perry has to get to his guest spot on a panel of former high school coaches turned collegiate in 15 minutes. There’s no more time to chop it up with friends. He puts his head down and busts over to the auditorium without getting roped into a conversation. I think it will be impossible, but Perry makes it to the panel with minutes to spare and sits on the stage next to his current head coach. Of course, all the high school coaches in the audience also want to hear from McGuire, who won three state titles during an illustrious run at Cedar Hill.

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The current recruiting process for high school kids is highly stressful. They’re not only deciding where to spend the next four years of their life but fielding lucrative NIL offers and monitoring the college football transfer portal to see if there will be playing time for them on the roster. Texas Tech sows the seed early when they offer before many of the other big-time schools, and it’s tough to forget the first one that took a chance on you.

“I always say the first one that gives you an offer is the first one to believe in you,” Hughes said. “A lot of coaches can come out and talk to the guys, but when they actually extend that full scholarship offer, to me, those are the ones that believe in you. You should always keep those guys on the radar.”

The Red Raider staff has deep-rooted connections in almost every area of the state. Perry and McGuire are synonymous with DFW football. But defensive line coach Zarnell Fitch was also a high school coach in the area at Dallas Lincoln and spent time as TCU’s Director of High School Relations. Tight ends coach Josh Cochran has East Texas covered. He played at Hallsville and later was an assistant coach at Lindale High School under his brother, Chris. Zach Kittley was never a high school coach, but he was a student assistant and later a graduate assistant at Texas Tech from 2013 to 2017, so he's entrenched in West Texas.

The coaching staff has name recognition with high school coaches and a built-in trust because of their Texas high school football background. Then they added a professional-style scouting department that freed them up to build relationships. It’s resulted in the most positive momentum for the program in a decade.

“I think it’s great when we get these high school coaches that are able to move up the ranks,” Compton said. “For us as high school coaches, it’s easier for us to reach out to some of those guys as compared to someone who’s not as familiar with the area or maybe with us as coaches and our path as we’re going up.”