We are officially on the “down side” of the off-season grind and although we are still over five months away from the first TXHSFB games of 2017, football-related activities will begin soon in the great state of Texas.

Starting at the end of April, spring football will ramp up for 6A and 5A programs who elect to participate in after school practices. On May 13, we’ll have our first 7-on-7 State Qualifying Tournaments, which will culminate in the 2017 7-on-7 State Tournament on June 29 - July 1 in College Station. Don’t forget that if your school is interested in participating in a State Qualifier, go to http://www.texas7on7.com for all your SQT needs!

Then, we’ll have the 2017 THSCA Convention, which will be in Houston (details below) and on Monday Aug. 7, fall practice will begin for 4A schools and below, and 6A/5A programs that did not participate in spring football. We have a list of spring football games for schools statewide if you’d like to get an early look at teams for 2017!

In the meantime, we had a flurry of coaching movement towards the end of Spring Break, so let’s take a look at some of the news and notes from the coaching carousel!

We start in the DFW area where the most bizarre story comes from Cleburne, where Jeff Merket announced his resignation after five years and a reasonably successful run at CHS. Merket’s departure had been rumored since early in the football season after he was non-renewed and we got a taste of some of his concerns with the way things were handled in the form of his resignation letter which was first published in the Cleburne Times Review. The story has since been picked up by multiple media outlets and regardless of who is right or wrong, this is an awful look for Cleburne ISD, which now has to try to find a head coach amidst all the negative talk in the coaching community. It won’t be any easier considering Cleburne struggled at all levels of sub-varsity play down to the seventh grade level, so whoever does step in will certainly have to do a bit of a rebuild. Cleburne ISD does have an experienced hand in house in athletic director Mark Walker, who was the former HC at Mansfield Timberview. However, there is a faction in town that would like to see the athletic director and head football coach positions remain separate. This situation will definitely be worth watching.

Dallas Adams will also be in the market for a new head coach as Hank Willis departs after two years to head back to the San Antonio area as the HFC at Highlands High School. Willis is familiar with the lay of the land as he spent two seasons as HFC at Poteet. Bryan Adams is an attractive job for a young assistant  looking to land his first gig. The Cougars have good numbers for a DISD program and, generally, above average talent.

It’s been a busy off-season in Lewisville ISD as Lewisville High HC Gregg Miller announced on Friday he was resigning his post to join the staff of former Flower Mound Marcus HC Gerry Stanford at Texarkana Texas High. Lewisville is the largest school in LISD, but they do have logistical problems with students spread out over multiple campuses. Smart money is this hire likely comes within LISD.

Mineola, as expected, stayed in-house with their hire as DC Luke Blackwell was promoted Monday evening to HFC/AD, replacing Joe Drennon, who departed for Hallsville after leading MHS to the 3A Division I state championship.

The trend of hiring defensive coordinators for head coaching positions in San Antonio has been strong as Reagan and Madison both hired DC’s to become HC’s at their respective openings earlier this off-season and Brandeis kept that trend up promoting David Branscom to HFC. Branscom replaces Jeff Fleener, who departed after two years to take the same position at Mesquite High.

Down on the coast it’s been a fairly active off-season and that continued with Corpus Christi West Oso HC Scott Kilgore resigning his post. The Bears, who have no shortage of athletes, have not had the type of success in football that they’ve enjoyed on the basketball court.

Amarillo River Road HC Philip Wiggins, who has spent time as HC at Vega prior to his stint at RRHS, resigned late last week, as well. River Road had one of their best seasons in recent memory, posting a 7-5 record, but graduation has certainly depleted the ranks looking ahead to 2017. The Bronte ISD school board voted right before Spring Break to drop down to Class 1A and play six-man football starting with the 2018 realignment. Bronte had six-man numbers this past realignment, but elected to play up in Class 2A.

Jacksboro certainly hit a homerun with their hire as JISD landed Crosbyton HC Brannon Rodgers to take over. Rodgers, in eleven years at CHS, posted a 72-51 mark — including an impressive 23-3 run in 2014 and 2015. He’ll try to replicate that success in Jacksboro, which recently made a significant investment in facility updates. Archer City is finishing up their process of hiring a new HFC/AD and a hire should be made at the board meeting on Monday, March 27.

Rocksprings moved quickly to hire a new coach as former Hamshire-Fannett HC Kane Harris was tabbed for the gig. Last year, Harris was an assistant at Nueces Canyon.

The 2017 Hall of Honor Inductees have been approved at the March meeting of the THSCA Board of Directors. The inductees will be honored at the THSCA Hall of Honor Luncheon sponsored by Balfour in Houston on Wednesday, July 26, 2017, at the Hilton Hotel at 1 p.m. The luncheon is held in conjunction with the annual THSCA Coaching School and Convention, which will take place July 23-26 in Houston. Tickets to the luncheon are $40 each and can be purchased from the THSCA Office or at the luncheon. Hall of Honor Inductees are:

James Cameron began his head coaching career in 1967 at McKinney HS where he took his initial team to the state finals with a record of 11-1-1. After a brief college coaching career, he returned to high school in 1976 at Rockwall HS, taking a program that had just moved from 3A to 4A and leading them to a six-year record of 48-14-1, culminating in a state semifinal appearance in 1981. His last two coaching stops were at Kilgore and Sulphur Springs where he amassed a 112-37 record. The last ten years of his coaching career, his teams qualified for the state playoffs every year and his cumulative record over 26 years as a head coach was 205-79-9. James Cameron died suddenly of a massive heart attack on April 1, 1995.

Don Clayton opened Katy Cinco Ranch in 1999 and has developed a highly competitive athletic program with seven Top Ten finishes in the UIL Governor’s Cup. He has taken his teams to the playoffs eleven times including a trip to the semifinals in 2016. He is 89-21 in his last 10 years at Cinco Ranch and his career record is 151-104. Coach Clayton has served on the THSCA Board of Directors and was the coach of the South All-Stars in the 2011 THSCA All-Star Game. He is also an inductee into the University of Wyoming Hall of Fame.

Ernie Johnson’s first coaching position was at his alma mater, Dublin in 1955. In 1958 he then moved to Stephenville as head baseball, junior varsity football and junior varsity basketball coach for two years. In 1961 Coach Johnson became the very first head baseball coach and assistant football coach at Midland Lee and remained at Lee for the next 29 years until his retirement in 1990. In 1991 he began serving as a volunteer baseball coach and also worked the exhibits at the THSCA Convention and Coaching School for several years. He served as president of the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association in 1978-79 and was inducted into the THSBCA Hall of Fame in 1991.

Eddy Peach was the head football coach of the Arlington Lamar Vikings for 39 years. His coaching record is 310-123-6 and he was voted "Coach of the Decade" in 1970 & 1980. Coach Peach won the 1994 Denuis UIL Award and was chosen as the 1996 THSCA North All-Star Coach. He is a 14-time "District Coach of the Year" winner and has taken his team to the playoffs 18 times with a championship game appearance in 1990 and semifinal appearances in 2000 and 2003. His Vikings made 13 consecutive playoff appearances from 1988-2000. Peach is 10th on Texas’ all-time wins list.

Robert Vela began his varsity career at Edcouch-Elsa in 1983, and was promoted to head coach in 1988. In 1989, the Yellowjackets were crowned district champions after a 25-year absence from post season play and advanced to the state quarterfinals. During Vela’s tenure his teams were district champions in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993 and were in the state playoffs seven out of his nine years there. In 1998 he took over the reins at Edinburg High School, leading it to a playoff run that included a trip to the state semifinals in 1999. Vela served on the THSCA Football Advisory Committee in 1990 and served on the THSCA Board of Directors from 1995-98. He coached for more than 35 years and had a record of 135-74-3. Vela passed away in 2007 and in 2010 Edinburg CISD paid tribute by naming their fourth high school after him.

Congrats to all the coaches for this incredible honor!

It’s officially clinic season in the state of Texas and if you have coaching clinic information that we are missing below by all means send it our way! You can e-mail it to me at mrstepp817@yahoo.com or reach out to me on twitter @Matt_Stepp817

June 13-15: Angelo Football Clinic, San Angelo http://www.angelofootballclinic.com/index.html

July 23-26: 2017 THSCA Coaches Convention & Coaching School, Houston

Convention & Coaching School | Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA)

Here are the dates for Spring Football Games from across the state. We’ll be adding to the list as info is received. If you don’t see your school’s spring game listed, please send it to us! You can e-mail it to me at mrstepp817@yahoo.com or reach out to me on twitter @Matt_Stepp817.

Arlington: May 25, 6pm at Arlington HS

Arlington Bowie: May 25, 6:30pm at Bowie HS

Arlington Lamar: May 25, 7pm at Cravens Field

Arlington Martin: May 25, 7pm at Martin HS

Burleson Centennial: May 25, 6pm at Centennial HS

Cedar Hill: May 19, 7pm at Longhorn Stadium

DeSoto: May 24, 6pm at Eagle Stadium

El Paso Del Valle: May 26, 6pm at Conquest Stadium

El Paso Parkland: May 27, 10am at Sun Bowl

Fort Worth Paschal: May 26, 7pm at Paschal HS

Fort Worth South Hills: May 18, 6pm at South Hills HS

Flower Mound: May 18, 6pm at Wilson Stadium

Granbury: May 19, 6pm at Pirate Stadium

Haltom: May 18, 6pm at Birdville Stadium

Haslet Eaton: May 20, 6pm at Eaton HS

Hurst Bell: May 19, 6pm at Pennington Field

Jacksonville: May 22, 5:30pm at Tomato Bowl

Joshua: May 19, 7pm at Owl Stadium

Justin Northwest: May 18, 6pm at Northwest ISD Stadium

Katy Cinco Ranch: May 22, 6:30pm at Cinco Ranch HS

Keller: May 23, 6pm at Keller ISD Stadium

Keller Central: May 18, 7pm at Central HS

Keller Fossil Ridge: May 18, 7pm at Fossil Ridge HS

Keller Timber Creek: May 18, 7pm at Timber Creek HS

Klein Oak: May 19, 7pm at Klein Oak HS

Lake Dallas: May 16, 6:30pm at Lake Dallas HS

Lancaster: May 24, 6:30pm at Humphrey Stadium

Laredo United: May 16, 6pm at Krueger Field

Lewisville Hebron: May 24, 7pm at Hawk Stadium

Lufkin: May 15, 6pm at Martin Stadium

Mansfield: May 24, 6pm at Mansfield HS

Mansfield Lake Ridge: May 22, 6pm at Lake Ridge HS

Mansfield Legacy: May 25, 6pm at Legacy HS

Mansfield Timberview: May 24, 6pm at Timberview HS

Marble Falls: May 22, 6pm at Mustang Stadium

Mesquite Horn: May 23, 7pm at Hanby Stadium

Nacogdoches: May 18, 6:30pm at Dragon Stadium

Saginaw: May 12, 7pm at Roughrider Stadium

Saginaw Boswell: May 25, 6pm at Pioneer Stadium

Saginaw Chisholm Trail: May 24, 6pm at Ranger Stadium

Southlake Carroll: May 18, 7pm at Dragon Stadium

Trophy Club Nelson: May 18, 5:30pm at Byron Nelson HS

Tyler John Tyler: May 25, 6pm at John Tyler HS

Tyler Lee: May 25, 6pm at Lee HS

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Matt Stepp is the Texas High School Football Inside for Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. Find him on Twitter: @Matt_Stepp817.