In what may be the final big splash of the 2020 offseason coaching carousel, San Marcos sent shockwaves through the state Monday night, naming former Denton Guyer head coach John Walsh as the Rattlers next head football coach and athletic director. Walsh replaces Mark Soto, who resigned last month after eight seasons to take over at San Antonio Johnson. 

Walsh, who resigned his post at Guyer in March, built the powerful Wildcats program from the ground up, taking the school to a pair of state titles, two more title game appearances, and rolling up an impressive 132-55 overall record from 2006 to 2019. In Walsh’s first two seasons, Guyer was a combined 1-19 as the school struggled in its first two years as a varsity program. In  the third year in 2008, Guyer broke out with a 12-3 mark and a trip to the state semifinals, and the program took off from there. The Wildcats have made the playoffs in every season since 2008. 

“I had resigned from Guyer before everything had shut down; at that point, I planned on coaching in 2020. But once everything had shut down, and the school business slowed down, I had kind of went to a Plan B,” Walsh told TexasFootball.com. “Obviously I’m a coach, and being a coach was preferred. This late, I was going to be selective about any opportunity that came along.”

The new San Marcos head coach said the Rattlers’ job was attractive to him from the start.

“Being in DFW, I didn’t know a ton about the program at San Marcos High other than stuff you see on Twitter,” Walsh said. “I know they had a real good season in 2017 under coach Soto. When you peel back the layers, the first thing is it’s a place my family and I will enjoy living; it definitely checks that box. The resources are in place to build a quality program. Their facilities are top notch and there’s great functionality — when they designed the facilities, a lot of thought was put into it. And of course, it’s a one-horse town, and that’s always a major plus.”

After meeting with San Marcos Consolidated ISD administration, Walsh said his mind was made up.

“The administration at SMCISD is phenomenal, and that was the nail in the coffin for us,” Walsh said. “It totally sold me — their vision and my vision are aligned. The superintendent Mr. [Michael] Cardona wants the Rattlers to be top-notch in every aspect, from academics to athletics, and the high school principal Mrs. [Denisha] Presley is an outstanding campus leader. Both me and Mrs. Presley are from the Big Country, so we speak the same language.” 

Despite all the success Walsh had at Guyer, it’s easy to forget that it was a total build from the ground up. But Walsh remembers, and that’s why he’s excited to get started at San Marcos.

“San Marcos is a place that I think my skill set of being a builder can really be utilized,” Walsh said. “When I was an assistant at Brownwood, it was a building job and of course Guyer was a brand new school. I wasn’t looking for a powerhouse program to take over — I wanted to build a program. It’s an exciting challenge that gets me fired up.

“Can’t wait to get started, my mind is already racing. I’m getting back to 2005 and all those feelings I had when starting up at Guyer. The difference is now I already have a road map, and back then I didn’t have one.”

With all the challenges given the current environment, Walsh said he has a very specific plan on getting starting and meeting his team.

“When I get on the ground in San Marcos, we are going to get rolling as soon as we can,” Walsh said. “My biggest thing is building relationships — getting to know the kids, that’s the core of our program. I can watch film and see what they can do, but our staff needs to build that trust with the kids first and foremost. I definitely plan to get in touch with coach Soto. He did a great job there, so I’m definitely going to try and get a cheat sheet from him as well.”

Walsh, a native of Merkel, now embarks on his new challenge in San Marcos. The Rattlers posted a 10-2 season in 2017, but have struggled the past two years, posting back to back 1-9 seasons.