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.”