After Leonard McAngus asked for reassignment to relinquish his duties as head football coach at Justin Northwest High School, the search began for a new head coach for the Texans.
And now, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, that post has been filled, as the Texans hired Bill Patterson away from Garland Naaman Forest after he helped turn around the Rangers' program from a district bottom-feeder to sharing a District 10-5A championship.
Patterson takes over at the flagship high school of one of the fastest-growing school districts in the state, which serves 14 towns and is expecting to have 90,000 students by 2030.
McAngus compiled a 32-40 record over seven seasons with the Texans, and was there to oversee their move from Class 4A to Class 5A a few years back into one of the toughest 5A districts around (5-5A), which includes Southlake Carroll, Flower Mound Marcus and Hebron.
Those insane numbers at Justin Northwest (which resembles more of a sprawling college campus than a high school) will be dwindled a bit next year with the opening of Northwest ISD's second high school, Byron Nelson High School, which hired Brian Polk from 3A Van Alstyne to take over its football program, which will begin varsity play in 2010.
Patterson appears to be the right man to revive a consistently mediocre football program at Northwest. He has been at Naaman Forest since 2000, and had some growing pains with the Rangers.
The Rangers won just six games total in three seasons (2004-2006) before reeling off 9-3 seasons the past two years, and Patterson led them to the second round of the Class 5A Division II playoffs this past season before being ousted by Copperas Cove.
Sports Connection
Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.
The Rangers would have been 10-2 last season if not for the use of an ineligible player in their 52-35 win over Whitehouse. Aside from Copperas Cove, their only other loss on the field came to Rowlett.
Adam Boedeker is a sports writer/blogger for the Denton Record-Chronicle. He's getting his bracket ready!
