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Jeff Rhoads grew up in Katy, Texas. Katy is thought of as a football powerhouse now, but it was not always. Rhoads played and coached for Katy as an assistant and witnessed the transformation of the program first hand. Now, in his first head coaching position, he looks to transform the Anderson Trojans from a cellar dweller to a contender in Austin Independent School District.
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Cover SheetReese Miller
Feature/Sports Story“Jeff Rhoads attempts to transform, build football program at Anderson”
Sept. 24, 2014
Budget line:Jeff Rhoads grew up in Katy, Texas. Katy is thought of as a football powerhouse
now, but it was not always. Rhoads played and coached for Katy as an assistant and witnessed the transformation of the program first hand. Now, in his first head coaching position, he looks to transform the Anderson Trojans from a cellar dweller to a contender in Austin Independent School District.
Sources: Jeff Rhoads – Head Football Coach of the Anderson Trojans
o Email: [email protected] Date(s) contacted: in person 8/23/14, 9/22/14o Met with him and discussed his journey as a player and coach all the way
to his first season as a head coach. Mike Johnston – Head Coach of the Katy Tigers for 22 years
o Phone number: 832-298-0169o Date(s) contacted: phone call 9/22/14o Discussed how he transformed the Katy football program and his
relationship with Jeff Rhoads. Donna Houser – Principal of Anderson High School
o Email: [email protected] Date(s) contacted: in person, 9/22/14o Discussed her thoughts on the Anderson football program and how Jeff
Rhoads has gone about altering its’ perception.
Invisible sources/web sites used: Houston Chronicle-Hyperlinked http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/highschool/article/Johnston-helps-build-
Katy-football-powerhouse-5708299.php#/0 Article about the way Mike Johnston turned Katy football into a state power. Texas Tech Sports http://www.texastech.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/spike_dykes_11231.html Profile of Spike Dykes as a Texas Tech coach.
Jeff Rhoads attempts to transform, build football program at Anderson
September 24, 2014
By: Reese Miller
The game clock on the House Park scoreboard strikes zero. It reads 33-23 in favor of the
Anderson Trojans over the McCallum Knights in the opening Thursday night game of the
2014 Texas high school football season. The Trojan band bellows its fight song as the
players valiantly raise up the Taco Shack Bowl trophy. With their singular triumph, they
have equaled the number of wins for Anderson each of the past two seasons. And, it is
the first victory for Jeff Rhoads in his inaugural game as a head coach.
Rhoads, 46, grew up in Katy, Texas. His father, Jack, coached the Katy Tigers from 1972
to 1980 and was the athletic director for years after that. Jack hired Mike Johnston to
coach the Tigers starting in 1982. Johnston coached them for 22 years, transforming the
Katy program into what is now a premier program in Texas. Jeff Rhoads was Johnston’s
quarterback for his junior and senior seasons, both resulting in 1-9 records. The same
record Anderson has posted the past two years. Katy now holds 28 district titles, and 13
championship game appearances to its name.
“We chose to build a foundation,” said Johnston, who is now retired from coaching.
“You have to have a vision for what you’re doing. Eventually, we had a winning effort on
and off the field, and everyone believed in it, but it took years to get that going.”
Rhoads played at Blinn College before walking on to Texas Tech in 1987. His father,
who wanted Rhoads to coach, advised him to learn under a new regime of coaches at
Tech led by Spyke Dikes and Dick Winder. Rhoads had coaching stints at Andrews,
Cypress Falls and Brownwood before returning to Katy, where he helped three teams to
state finals appearances. After a two-year break from coaching, and another campaign as
a Brownwood assistant coach, Rhoads became Westlake’s offensive coordinator, helping
the team to the state finals in 2009.
Rhoads was the unanimous choice out of 91 applicants for the Anderson head coaching
vacancy this past offseason, according to Anderson Principal Donna Houser. Since taking
over at Anderson last spring, Rhoads has made significant changes to the culture of the
Trojans.
“Coach Rhoads brought a winning mentality, he has devoted more time to our strength
and conditioning program and changed our schemes,” Houser said. “He and his staff have
also gone to our feeder school, Murchison, every day to teach the fundamentals of our
program.”
One of the reasons Anderson is not a perennial contender is because of the lack of players
that sign up to play. Forty-five players are on roster this year which is up from 33, last
year. In comparison, 2013 district champion Lake Travis has 59 athletes on roster this
season. Rhoads hopes that these numbers will increase as a result of his hands-on
involvement with Murchison. While he is facing an uphill battle, Rhoads has witnessed
and been a part of a program in Katy that transformed from a district doormat into a title
contender.
“You’ve got to win every moment of every day. That’s what we did at Katy, we expected
to win, classroom, community, on the field, fill in the blank,” Rhoads said. “That’s what
has to happen here.”
At Katy as an assistant coach, Rhoads nurtured and taught Cincinnati Bengals
quarterback and former TCU Horned Frog Andy Dalton the fundamentals he uses on
Sundays. While Anderson may not be a powerhouse program now, Rhoads has had
considerable experience working alongside traditional winning programs like Katy and
Westlake. He realizes it takes a year-round effort committed to winning, which is
something Anderson hasn’t experienced lately.
“We have a bunch of great kids, but you’ve got to nurture your spirit, you need to eat
right, lift, condition, have a good spring camp, good summer program and a good pre-
fall, then you need to crush your opponent,” Rhoads said. “I’ve got to rekindle hope, you
look into a team without hope, and you’re in trouble.”
Every Saturday, the Trojans will run one mile and watch tape of the previous game, one
of the several traditions Rhoads carried over from Katy. The Tigers held weekly
‘Sunshine Club’ meetings for players who are on the fringe of having a spot on the roster,
consisting of those players, coaches and captains. Rhoads described the meetings as an
incredibly grueling punishment that the fringed players did\n’t want to be apart of. The
Trojans held their first Sunshine Club meetings on Wednesday morning. The most crucial
tradition for Rhoads to bring from Katy to Anderson, however, is simple-winning.
Something that back to back 1-9 Trojan teams haven’t become accustomed to.
“I’ve seen it turn. It happened at Katy and I believe it can happen here,” Rhoads said.
“It’s going to turn.”