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Texas High School Football
High school football in Texas emerged during the twentieth century as one of the state’s identifying institutions, a time shaped in the image of its coaches. ...
Coaches in Texas cross many boundaries, both figuratively and literally, within the state and in some cases outside of it. ... These old coaches began their careers in junior and senior high schools at places as diverse as Bowlegs, Oklahoma, and Houston, Texas, and some of them quit coaching only after reaching the college and professional ranks. ...
Texas high school coaches in their day exerted an influence on society out of proportion to their numbers. ... In many cases the harvest that coaches brought in from the football field even determined the self-perception of entire communities as well as how outsiders viewed those places.
Most males in Texas were involved in football in some way or another. The importance of high school football in Texas should be known by looking at the amount of people who had either played the game or eventually coached a team. In the late 1800s and early 1900s Texas was overpopulated with people who wanted to play football, and if they couldn’t play, they would coach. Texas is very serious about the lessons they learn with football. Coaches in Texas always have made the impression upon their players the traditional values of hard work, sacrifice, physical courage, and teamwork. To a generation of Texas high school football coaches who grew up and reached maturity in times of depression and war, the things that were “right” revolved around the values of things such as self-reliance, sacrifice, discipline, accountability, and survival. ... One example is when Southlake High School’s coach Bob Ledbetter suspended twenty-two players from his playoff bound team just for attending a party in which alcohol was served. Another example comes from Arlington High School where Coach Bill Keith assured himself a dismal season by dismissing several players from his squad after they confessed to more serious after game celebrations. ...
However superficial, any behavior that reinforces the negative stereotype of coaches continues to draw the attention of angry critics who denounce football as an archaic endeavor, one whose negative lessons of violence, unfair competition, and inflated self-importance are more important than any positive message that the sport may convey to its participants. ... One example of this would be Roger Benefield, coach of Grapevine High School. ... His fellow teachers at the school regard Benefield as a very capable teacher who received “Teacher of the Year” award. There are many football coaches like this who contradict the label of being a cruel and heartless person. 1
Texas high school football coaches long have contended with a formidably negative stereotype. Coaches invest long and intense hours preparing for the forty-eight minutes of football played each Friday night. ...
Texans’ interest in high school football during the 1920s and the early 1930s would grow with their schools participation. A truly modern education system that reflected a popular priority on interscholastic competition, and football in particular, was still emerging.
Approximate Word count = 2492
Approximate Pages = 10
(250 words per page double spaced)
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