Mansfield Head Coach Daniel Maberry Passes Away

Mansfield High School and Texas high school football suffered a tragic loss on Tuesday as Mansfield HFC Daniel Maberry lost his courageous battle with cancer. Maberry, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, fought bravely against the disease, fighting back both in 2018 and 2019 to spend time on the sidelines coaching his team. He was an inspiration to all. "It's a sad day, I just sent a text this morning letting him know I was praying for him,” Arlington Sam Houston HC Anthony Criss said. Cedar Hill HC Carlos Lynn sent a text that simply said, "I’m crushed." Maberry, who spent over 20 years in Mansfield ISD, worked his way up from Worley Middle School to head coach at Mansfield High in 2016, where his teams went 10-3 and 11-2 in his first two seasons. Coach Maberry leaves behind a wife and two young daughters. 

Tyler Lee Makes a Splash Hire

After a search that lasted a couple of weeks longer than originally intended, Tyler ISD AD Greg Priest and superintendent Marty Crawford hit a homerun with the hire of Joe Willis as the next head football coach at Tyler Lee on Thursday. Willis comes to East Texas with outstanding credentials as a head coach as he owns a 99-42 record in 11 seasons as a head coach at Iraan, Cedar Park and most recently Colleyville Heritage, where he posted a 40-22 record the past five seasons and led the Panthers to the regional finals in 2016 and 2019; he also posted an 11-2 mark in 2017. Willis had three wildly successful seasons at Cedar Park where he won a state title in 2012 and led the Timberwolves to the state title game in 2014. Willis will be expected to win quickly at Lee, as the district appears to be giving him everything a head coach would want to be successful from a support standpoint.

Keller Timber Creek Interviews Begin

Keller ISD reportedly interviewed seven candidates for its vacant head football coach position on Thursday. Reports are the candidates include two head coaches - one from DFW and one from Texoma, four assistants from the DFW area and one internal candidate.  Sources indicate one of the DFW area assistants is the leading candidate to land this one.

Barry Campbell Steps down at Humble Kingwood

Humble Kingwood head coach Barry Campbell announced on Twitter he’d be stepping down as the head coach at Kingwood to take a job on staff at Belton High School. Campbell posted a 44-44 record in eight years at Kingwood and was named DCTF’s 2017 Coach of the Year after Kingwood made the third round of the playoffs while dealing with the school being heavily damaged due to Hurricane Harvey.

New Caney Hires a State Title Head Coach

New Caney ISD (not to be outdone by Tyler ISD) made quite the splash of its own by bringing in Cuero head coach Travis Reeve in what many deemed as a surprise move on Thursday. Reeve had a sensational run as head coach at Cuero posting a 76-29 record in eight years at the helm, including leading the Gobblers to a 4A-Division II state title.

Abilene Wylie Promotes Defensive Coordinator

In a move most expected on Friday, Abilene Wylie announced the promotion of defensive coordinator Clay Martin to HFC/AD. Martin also has served as the head coach for the Bulldogs’ successful baseball program. Abilene Wylie didn’t see any changes from UIL Realignment as it remain in 3-5A Division II and will look to break a two-year playoff drought.

Casey Hubble Departs Breckenridge for Canton

Breckenridge head coach Casey Hubble announced he was leaving the Big Country and heading east on I-20 to Canton where he will take over the Class 4A-Division II Eagles. Hubble posted a 29-40 record in six years in Breckenridge, but he did lead Breckenridge to a 7-6 and 7-5 mark in his first two seasons at the helm. Low numbers and injuries the past two seasons have derailed the tradition-rich Buckaroos program.

Eddie Gill Returns to Head Coaching

After a stunning, head-scratching departure from Whitesboro last offseason, Eddie Gill has resurfaced as a head coach as he takes over at Callisburg. Gill spent last season as the offensive line coach at nearby Gainesville and spent 13 seasons at Whitesboro from 2006-2018 where he led them to their first playoff appearance and first playoff win in school history.

Goliad Promotes an Alum

Goliad named defensive coordinator Kevin Salazar, a Goliad High alum, as the Tigers next head football coach and athletic director. Salazar, who will be in his first head coaching role, replaces Bobby Nicholson who departed after four seasons.

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Texas 7-on-7 Information Has Been Released

The Texas State 7-on-7 board of directors released their 2020 State 7-on-7 schedule at the link below:

https://www.texas7on7.org/sqt-schedule.html

The State Qualifying Tournament (SQT) season begins on April 25 with a Division I SQT at The Star in Frisco, while the Division II SQT season gets ramped up May 9 in Lorena. Division III SQT play starts with three SQTs in Merkel, Buffalo and Rice Consolidated.

New SQT host sites this year in Division I are Arlington, Midland, Alvin and Dayton. New Division II SQT sites are Melissa, Dumas, Corpus Christi and Jourdanton. New Division III SQT sites are Rice Consolidated, Merkel and Poth.

The 2020 Texas 7-on-7 State Tournament will again be held at Veterans Park in College Station, Division II and III will be played June 25 and June 26 and the Division I tournament will be held June 26 and June 27.

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UIL Realignment Coverage

For all your post UIL Realignment coverage, go to the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football UIL Realignment homepage presented by James Hardie located at: https://www.texasfootball.com/realignment/?ref=nav

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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 matt.stepp@texasfootball.com or reach out to me on twitter @Matt_Stepp817.

February 7-9: Lone Star Clinic, College Station

February 12: 1st 2020 NTFCA Coaches' Clinic, North Richland Hills

February 14: Hill Country Clinic, Fredericksburg

February 14-15: South Plains Clinic, Lubbock

February 19: 2nd 2020 NTFCA Coaches' Clinic, Fort Worth

February 21-22: Central Texas Clinic, Waco

February 22: Highway 5 Clinic, Melissa

February 26: 3rd 2020 NTFCA Coaches' Clinic, Denton

March 4: 4th 2020 NTFCA Coaches' Clinic, Dallas

May 1-2: El Paso Football Clinic, El Paso

May 15-16: I-45 Clinic, The Woodlands

June 11-13: Angelo Football Clinic, San Angelo

July 19-21: 2020 THSCA Coaches Convention & Coaching School, San Antonio

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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.