______Top 10 Coaches of All Time______

[Rerun]

Who are the top 10 greatest high school football coaches of all time?

You don't have to list a complete top 10.

Just toss in however many you think are deserving of this ranking.

I will kick it off.

-----D.W. Rutledge-----

[Shoot2thrill]

I assume you are talking high school coaches in Texas? And do you want to consider all classifications? If so, I will throw out a couple of no brainers:

Gordon Wood

Chuck Moser

[LeanderLions3033]

Chad Schroeder of Austin Westlake

Look at what he accomplished there and tell me he doesnt deserve top 10 honors. Westlake has fallen off quite a bit since his departure.

[raidercheerdad]

Jerry Hopkins of Sonora, Texas
State Champions in:
1966, 1968, 1970, and Co-Champs in 1971
lost in the championship game in 1967 and 1969!
He returned to Sonora for my Senior year in 1979 and we went undefeated and didn't get to the playoffs! 7-0-2 and lost on a coin flip.

[Eagle81]

Come on guys how about G.A. Moore (Celina/Pilot Point).

[jrdaniel]

Chad Schroeder of Austin Westlake

Look at what he accomplished there and tell me he doesnt deserve top 10 honors. Westlake has fallen off quite a bit since his departure.
I am sure Chad will be a great coach once his playing career is over. His dad Ron, on the other hand would probably be included in a Top 10. :D

Others would be the aforementioned Rutledge, Moore, Wood, as well as Johnston.

[jtk1519]

Gordon Wood
Chuck Moser
P.E. Shotwell

[bullrock]

I'm a little biased, but I have to add D. W. Rutledge to this list.

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

Dan Hooks---west orange stark.

[ktrain]

Former Katy coach Mike Johnston

[RPM]

Tom Landry Mission Tx..

[Favpack]

Come on guys how about G.A. Moore (Celina/Pilot Point).

As far as I'm concerned it's

G.A. Moore
Wood
Moser
the winning guy at Permian whose name escapes me

Everyone else

[mtbray]

Joe Martin?



heh

[Eagle81]

As far as I'm concerned it's

G.A. Moore
Wood
Moser
the winning guy at Permian whose name escapes me

Everyone else

That would be John Wilkins

[dada]

Eddie Peach
Luther Booker
Bill Smith

[JudsonStud19]

D.W. Rutledge... No doubt about it... I may not be exactly right on this... but isnt he the only 5a coach with 5 state championships... I dont know... He is just the best coach in 5A history in my book...

[wide-e-wide]

D.W. Rutledge... No doubt about it... I may not be exactly right on this... but isnt he the only 5a coach with 5 state championships... I dont know... He is just the best coach in 5A history in my book...


Best name of all-time goes to Alto's Lucky Gamble...that is awesome.
And they had some pretty good teams as well.

[LeanderLions3033]

I am sure Chad will be a great coach once his playing career is over. His dad Ron, on the other hand would probably be included in a Top 10.

Haha, i knew something didnt look right about my post. If CHAD continues the way he is going he will have a successful next few years, but RON Schroeder is a top 10 coach IMO.

[drgnbkr]

Bob Ledbetter..built the Southlake Carroll Tradition

[lonny23]

D.W. Rutledge... No doubt about it... I may not be exactly right on this... but isnt he the only 5a coach with 5 state championships... I dont know... He is just the best coach in 5A history in my book...
D.W. won 4 titles as Head Coach and 1 as an assistant. Rackley has 5 as an assistant and 1 as Head Coach.

[odessapermian.com]

Wilkins
Rutledge
Moser
Johnston
Briles

I also believe Dodge will be on this list when he retires.

[drgnbkr]

Wilkins
Rutledge
Moser
Johnston
Briles

I also believe Dodge will be on this list when he retires.

Bob Ledbetter won 3 Titles & hired Coach Dodge....

[lonny23]

T. J. Mills deserves mention for his work at Sealy.

Art Briles did good work at Stephenville.

On the pro level, Gene Stallings, Raymond Berry, Bum Phillips (coached a HS title game, too), and Jimmy Johnson all deserve mention.

I'll throw in Paul Tyson in Waco and Blair Cherry in Amarillo.

In the Abilene brigade, Moser trumps Dewey Mayhew, who trumps Shotwell.

Cooper Robbins, Emory Bellard, and Joe Kerbel were great at Breckenridge.

Stamford was fortunate to have Gordon Wood and Larry Wartes.

Joe Golding had 4 titles for Wichita Falls.

Allen Weddell at LaMarque.

Robert Lehnhoff. Wait, this is best coaches! :p

Rusty Russell and Eck Curtis at Highland Park.

John Parchman gets in the mix because of his 3 M Lee titles.

Joey Florence and Sam Harrell are still bringing it.

Chesty Walker was a good coach at Phillips (and a great recruiter!).

Jim Norman was top dog at Big Sandy.

The Kuempel brothers in Pflugerville deserve mention for winning 55 in a row.

Tom Kimbrough, John Clark, Tom Gray and Gerald Brence did some things at Plano.

Allen Wilson and Todd Dodge have to be considered top coaches for their 2 titles.

Pat Patterson was a great coach for Yates in the Prairie View League as were Clifton Ozen and Willie Ray Smith in Beaumont.

I have to give him his due. Dennis Alexander had it going on at Daingerfield.

How about Travis Raven at Austin Reagan?

Davis Husmann was good at Schulenberg.

Ray Akins and Phil Danaher were good at GP and Calallen.

Danny Medina had a great run at Fort Hancock and they'll be the subject of another thread by me.

Charlie Johnston did a lot of things at Childress. So has Shelton at Hays Consolidated.

Chuck Curtis won 3 straight titles at Jacksboro and Garland.

Chuck Gilbreth was great at Cuero and he kept my boys at MP off the title list in 1973.

I'm putting Ronnie Gage on the list for his 2 titles and the hurting the Farmers put on Judson.

How about Bob McQueen at Temple?

Jerry Hopkins at Sonora.

And without further adieu, the Lonny top 10 list of Texas high school coaches:

10. Joe Golding
9. Emory Bellard
8. T.J. Mills
7. Art Briles
6. Bob McQueen
5. John Wilkins
4. Bob Ledbetter
3. D.W. Rutledge
2. G.A. Moore
1. Gordon Wood

[Rerun]

Robert Lehnhoff. Wait, this is best coaches!

That is not cool.

Coach Lenhoff was a good coach and an even better man.

[lonny23]

That is not cool.

Coach Lenhoff was a good coach and an even better man.
It wasn't a best man or bridesmaid poll! :D I was wondering how long it would take before you noticed and it was best to be thrown in the middle.

Seriously, he was a good coach and many people say he is a good man. Not being at the absolute top does not take away from what he's done over the years.

[odessapermian.com]

Bob Ledbetter won 3 Titles & hired Coach Dodge....

Absolutely. I laugh when people try to argue that SLC hasn't achieved "dynasty" status yet. They forget how dominant they were in their 3A days.

[lonny23]

Absolutely. I laugh when people try to argue that SLC hasn't achieved "dynasty" status yet. They forget how dominant they were in their 3A days.
You're trying to make a point, but are mutilating the previous discussion. SLC has a great history like Breckenridge, Sealy, Celina and any other number of teams. The 5 state titles are great and nobody disputes that. I've always said that SLC doesn't enter the discussion for great 5A teams because they had most of their success in 3A, but that can change in a few years. The fact that other teams have won as many or more titles at higher levels places them higher in the all-time discussion in my books. A 5A title is worth more than a 3A title.

[Rerun]

It wasn't a best man or bridesmaid poll! :D I was wondering how long it would take before you noticed and it was best to be thrown in the middle.

Seriously, he was a good coach and many people say he is a good man. Not being at the absolute top does not take away from what he's done over the years.

Yea, I can agree with that.

I think Lenhoff was a damn good coach. I think that he had a very tough job when Clemens was pulled out of their 4A comfort zone and pushed in with the toughest athletics district in the state, 26-5A. Clemens NEVER looked out of place in 5A. They never looked baffled on the field, even their very first year in 5A in 2000.

Well, except for this one play in the first quarter at Blossom against Madison in 2001, but, Clemens smoked them that game anyways. Cortez Perry was going off that night in a major way.

I think Coach Lenhoff did a great job preparing the players for the HUGE difference from a weak 4A district to a TOUGH 5A district.

He not only helped mold a solid 5A football program, but his hands were all over the athletic program at Clemens.

[supercentex]

Paul Tyson- Waco

http://www.wacolions.com/history.html

[drgnbkr]

You're trying to make a point, but are mutilating the previous discussion. SLC has a great history like Breckenridge, Sealy, Celina and any other number of teams. The 5 state titles are great and nobody disputes that. I've always said that SLC doesn't enter the discussion for great 5A teams because they had most of their success in 3A, but that can change in a few years. The fact that other teams have won as many or more titles at higher levels places them higher in the all-time discussion in my books. A 5A title is worth more than a 3A title.

It's odd, but the norm, having people from 2 other areas discussing opinions on Carroll's tradition...a title's a title Lonny.....You beat the other teams until you run out of opponents, as Carroll has done 5 times now (each with a perfect record)....What Coach Ledbetter did, taking Carroll up through the classifications, as coach & then AD, was nothing short of amazing...the legacy speaks for itself as did his induction into the Coaches Hall of Fame a few years back...he & coaches like Briles, GA Moore & others belong on any list of top Texas Coaches....IMO

[lonny23]

It's odd, but the norm, having people from 2 other areas discussing opinions on Carroll's tradition...a title's a title Lonny.....You beat the other teams until you run out of opponents, as Carroll has done 5 times now (each with a perfect record)....What Coach Ledbetter did, taking Carroll up through the classifications, as coach & then AD, was nothing short of amazing...the legacy speaks for itself as did his induction into the Coaches Hall of Fame a few years back...he & coaches like Briles, GA Moore & others belong on any list of top Texas Coaches....IMO
I agree that a title is a title and was only responding to a post that tried to make it seem like SLC has been disrespected. SLC had very good 3A title teams that could compete at higher levels. Coach Ledbetter was great and that's why I had him at #4. I also had Briles and Moore in the top 10.

[drgnbkr]

Your right, I guess it is 2 different discussions...best all time Texas Coaches or best 5a coaches....

[odessapermian.com]

You're trying to make a point, but are mutilating the previous discussion.


The "previous discussion" is about coaches, not 5A vs 3A. Ledbetter is/was a great coach. End of discussion.

[lonny23]

The "previous discussion" is about coaches, not 5A vs 3A. Ledbetter is/was a great coach. End of discussion.
I wasn't referring to the best coaches thread we're in now. I was referring to the times in the past we were talking about the best teams. SLC is in the discussion, but not #1 for me.

[odessapermian.com]

I wasn't referring to the best coaches thread we're in now. I was referring to the times in the past we were talking about the best teams. SLC is in the discussion, but not #1 for me.

Okay, so in other words YOU'RE "mutilating the discussion". :D

[lonny23]

Okay, so in other words YOU'RE "mutilating the discussion". :D
It's an art! I might be the biggest hijacker on the board.

[drgnbkr]

"Have thread will wander"...thats Lonny's motto.... ;)

[lonny23]

"Have thread will wander"...thats Lonny's motto.... ;)
The cool part is that I might drift off for about 5 posts, but I'll get back on topic at some point in the discussion.

[dragonsdaddy]

the cool part is, there's a psychiatric term that describes said behavior. it's called flight of ideas.

[lonny23]

the cool part is, there's a psychiatric term that describes said behavior. it's called flight of ideas.
In my case, I'm just having a little fun. I could stay on topic all the time, but couldn't smart off and joke as much as I do.

[drgnbkr]

You are an arteest.....