John Wilkins

Eddie Joseph - Texas High School Football HOF Coach

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Inducted in 2024

In thirteen seasons Wilkins won ten outright district titles. During those thirteen seasons, the Panthers played 170 games losing only sixteen.There were also six ties. His winning percentage of 88 percent is one of the highest in Texas UIL football history. He led the Panthers to four state championship games defeating Port Arthur Jefferson 28-19 in 1980, battling Beaumont French to a 21-21 draw in 1984, losing to Port Neches Groves in 1975, and Houston Yates in 1985. Wilkins left his coach’s office in 1985 to become the Athletic Director of Ector County Independent School District. In 1998, he took the job of athletic director at private Trinity School of Midland and found himself back on the sideline as head coach until the spring of 2002. Wilkins was inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor in 2003, and in 2021 was inducted into the inaugural class of the Odessa Athletics Hall of Fame.