When our Waco Trib Photo Day rolls around every July, it really reflects the complementary balance of what’s new and what’s old in Central Texas football.
And I’m not just talking about the coaches whose crowns have suddenly sprouted more gray. (OK, I’m not only talking about those guys.)
Trib photographer Jerry Larson lines up a photo of players from Morgan.
I’ve worked for the Trib for 24 years and as such have seen my share of Photo Days. By and large, we’ve worked out many of the kinks over the decades and have the process down to a science. When the rainbow of jerseys light up the locker room at Waco ISD Stadium, and the players jockey for position to start filling out their questionnaires, and when they later descend onto the field in packs of teammates to pose for photos, these are as familiar of scenes to me as my own reflection in the mirror.
And yet there’s always a bit of novelty sprinkled into the proceedings. Every year is the same, and every year is different, too.
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Allow me to illustrate.
What’s old: The family reunion atmosphere. The Centex cadre of coaches is its own brotherhood (and, to be sure, sisterhood). When Midway assistant coach Charles Hitchens entered the room flanked by a pack of Panthers, he immediately started doling out bro-hugs all over the room, especially to his old guys in the (new) Marlin uniforms. (Hitchens came over to Midway from Marlin.)
Local high school football coaches swap stories at the Trib’s Photo Day on Thursday. From left are University’s Kent Laster, McGregor’s Mike Shields, Robinson’s Mike Ludlow and Hillsboro’s Steve Almuete.
The coaches immediately gravitate to one another and start talking shop. At one point, I snapped a cellphone photo of a quartet of coaches chatting in the hallway — University’s Kent Laster, Hillsboro’s Steve Almuete, Robinson’s Mike Ludlow and McGregor’s Mike Shields. They were all in different-colored shirts emblazoned with their school’s respective logos, and yet they’re all on the same team to a certain extent.
West’s David Woodard caught the eye of Bosqueville’s Clint Zander on his way out the door, so he sidled over for a quick chat. Talk about family connections — Zander recently hired Woodard’s daughter and former West Super Centex standout Kearstyn Woodard as Bosqueville’s new head volleyball coach.
What’s new: Every offseason brings a downpour of coaching turnover. (Far more so than any deluge of actual rain, am I right?) Even the familiar faces are sometimes wearing new duds. Such was the case for Whitney’s David Haynes Jr. or Chilton’s Bennie Huitt, both of whom had previous head coaching stints at Marlin.
Robinson’s Ludlow, Mount Calm’s Chris Villarreal and Frost’s Phillip Gibson were just a few of the new head coaches milling about, making connections, putting faces to phone contacts. Undoubtedly Year One at a school offers up its own inherent challenges, but you’ve got to start somewhere.
Players from Blum and Mart fill out questionnaires at the Trib’s annual Photo Day Thursday.
What’s new: Photo Day is my favorite fashion show of the day. Someone is always showing off some new duds. Eagle Christian Academy came in looking extra-sharp. I asked head coach Bryce Frazier if the uniforms were new, and indeed they were, as they were basically fresh out of the box.
(By the way, Frazier has a great Luke Combs lookalike thing going these days. And I’m not the only one who has noticed it. Frazier said that when the country hitmaker played a halftime show at a Dallas Cowboys game last year, the ECA coach’s phone blew up with texts asking about how and when he got the singing gig.)
My favorite new uniforms came courtesy of the West Trojans. When West walked in the door, I knew it was them immediately, because Woodard led the way. It wasn’t until some time later that I was moving through the locker room and I stopped and took register of an unusual “team name” on a group of guys in black-and-red jerseys. It read, simply, “The Comma.”
The Comma? Say what? Then the brilliance of it washed over me. West, Comma, Texas. Woodard said that alternative nickname has long been associated with the community, to the point where the town even holds an event called something like “Sundays in the Comma.” The kids like the nickname, and it’s both creative and fun, so why not? Of course, you’d better believe that West — coming off a 13-1 season and trip to the regional finals — wants to finish its season with a different punctuation mark: The used-only-in-case-of-a-big-friggin-deal exclamation point.
La Vega running back Bryson Roland poses with rest of his team.
What’s both old and new: Hope. Optimism. Wide-eyed dreams.
I’ve seen it a million times, and yet it never grows old. It springs fresh as autumn draws closer. Everyone believes they can win, everyone thinks a state championship is possible. Honestly, that’s the way it should be.
Granted, some teams are swimming in dreamy-eyed optimism and some are grounded in realism. Some of these guys really can make a run at a title. Take Lorena for example. The Leopards aren’t the defending Class 3A Div. I state champions for nothing. I had to chuckle at one point when Lorena’s big defensive tackle Joe Gutshall began to meander out the wrong door, instead of heading to the line to get his head shot made. I wasn’t amused because he was slightly lost on where to go next — it happens — but because of Gutshall’s reaction when I bellowed, “Joe, come on back! This way!” Gutshall turned to one of his teammates and said, “How’d he know my name?”
Uh, yeah, Joe. You’re the reigning Super Centex Defensive Player of the Year. I know your name, and what’s more, every opposing coach facing Lorena in 2022 will, too. (You’ve got to appreciate the kid’s humility, though.)
Marlin, Chilton, Mart, La Vega, Crawford, Abbott. They all harbor serious state-pursuing aspirations in 2022. They’re old, reliable programs, but if they’re able to hoist a trophy come late December, you’d better believe it’ll be a new experience for somebody on the team.
The sights of the Trib's annual Photo Day are familiar and fresh at once.
What’s new (because of the old guys): In recent years, a few veteran coaches have landed on a rather pro move for Photo Day. Guys like Bosqueville’s Clint Zander and Abbott’s Terry Crawford have made their way through this maze before. They know that the first hour to 90 minutes of our gathering tends to bring the heaviest rush. So they arrive later in the proceedings, then casually recline in the air conditioning, with ample elbow room at their disposal.
It’s really a slick maneuver on their part. But it’s still a rather recent development, and now that I’ve let out the secret more coaches might start picking up on it. My bad, Big Z and Ter-Bear. Oh, did I mention that one of the things we asked on our Player Questionnaire was this: “What do you think your coach’s nickname was in high school?” Turns out that none of the Bosqueville or Abbott players really had it right. Zander, a former rugged Riesel lineman, said he got called “Big Country” back in the day, while Crawford admitted his moniker was “Spud,” mostly because of his affinity for 5-foot-7 dunking dynamo Anthony “Spud” Webb.
But those guys have been around a while, so they know the score.
Enough of the same-old, same-old.
A new season awaits.
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