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The New Head Coogah Coach Is...

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La Marque taps Jones for top coach

By Joshua Buckley

The Daily News   

Published March 9, 2007 - Updated 50 minutes ago

LA MARQUE — Chris Jones is the new athletic director and head football coach for La Marque High School.

The La Marque Independent School District Board unanimously approved the recommendation of Superintendent Ecomet Burley on Thursday to hire the former Refugio coach as the replacement for Bryan Erwin. Erwin resigned in January to take the same position at Flower Mound Marcus.

Jones said he didn’t know he would be the choice until he received a phone call from Burley just after 10:15 p.m. telling him he was approved.

“This is a dream come true,†Jones said from his home in Refugio. “I’ve been sitting on the back porch for a while with my family, just waiting on answer. I’m real excited right now.â€

Jones was one of two finalists for the position, along with Lamar Consolidated’s Lydell Wilson.

Jones had been an assistant football coach for 14 years, before getting his first head-coaching job in 2003 with Class 2A Refugio. He’s never missed the playoffs in his four years with the Bobcats, compiling a 34-14 record, including three straight district titles.

In 2006, Refugio went 11-2, advancing to the Class 2A, Division II region semifinals.

But Jones’ impact figures to be felt on more than just the football field.

During a public forum Tuesday night, Jones showed how La Marque and Refugio mirror each other in test scores and economically disadvantaged students, based on stats taken from the Texas Education Agency. Jones had just only one varsity player fail academically during the last two years at Refugio.

Jones also unveiled his slogan for the Cougars at the forum — B.Y.G. for C.T.S. ’07.

“It means the Best You’ve Got for Coogs Take State in ’07,†he said.

Jones’ presentation at the public forum earned praise from members of the community and some of the current varsity players.

“We think Chris Jones is the best fit for the players,†said junior receiver Dexter Evans said. “Both of them are good candidates, but Chris Jones is going run an offense that is good for us.â€

Jones’ spread offensive attack wrecked havoc on the Bobcats’ opponents this year, 37.6 points per game.

“About 95 percent of our offensive plays were out of the shotgun formation,†Jones said. “We used the spread (offense), because it was a way to get all our athletes on the field. We had a lot of skill players that wouldn’t have gotten on the field if we ran a normal two-back set.â€

Refugio totaled 4,925 total yards in 2006, including 3,012 on the ground. The Bobcats had a 1,300-yard rusher and 1,800-yard passer.

His defense hasn’t been too shabby either. Showing the ability to use different defensive formations throughout the season, Refugio held opponents to 150 points last season.

“Like La Marque, our team was blessed with speed,†Jones said. “So we put our fastest kids on the field on defense. We used multiple defensive formations and weren’t afraid to gamble, take chances and bring some heat. You can do that with the athletes if they are there.â€

Jones said he hopes to be released from his duties at Refugio in the next few weeks, so he can begin work at La Marque.

“I really feel great about getting the opportunity to coach at La Marque,†Jones said. “Now it’s time to get to work and start getting things in line.â€

+++

Chris Jones At A Glance

• Refugio Athletic Director/Head Football Coach, ’03-’06

• 34-14 career record

• 2006 Regional finalists

• District Champions 2004, 2005, 2006

• Zero varsity players failed academically in ’05 and ’06

• Assistant football coach for 14 years — Frenship, ’89-’96; Honey Grove, ’96-’97; Bryan, ’97-’98; Sinton, ’98-’03

• Education — Texas Tech University, ’84-’88, earned B.S. in education

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Tough choice between him and Wilson.

Yep...

This open forum was no disaster

By Heber Taylor

The Daily News 

Published March 9, 2007

Some people contend that releasing the names of finalists for key positions in school districts is a disaster. Those folks claim that making the finalists face the public will scare away good applicants.

If releasing the names of the two finalists for the job of athletic director and head football coach at La Marque High School was a disaster, public schools need a lot more of those disasters.

Two young men who wanted that job faced a crowd of concerned parents and district residents.

The two were Lydell Wilson of Lamar Consolidated and Chris Jones of Refugio.

You know what everyone learned about them?

Both of them have courage. Both of them wanted the job and weren’t ashamed to compete for it. Both saw promise and potential in La Marque. Both wanted to be a part of that.

Both were excellent candidates and Ecomet Burley, the superintendent of schools, had a tough, tough choice.

You know what else everyone learned?

The people in the crowd asked very good questions. It didn’t matter that the parents, taxpayers and high-school students weren’t trained public officials. They still asked good, thoughtful questions.

The candidates answered them.

At the end of the evening, people who attended the forum said they were pleased.

Some said they were proud of the school district and proud of its tradition. They were reassured that the two guys who had gone through this grueling process and still were standing appreciated that tradition and were dead serious about enhancing it.

Some critics of this open process say that whoever is not selected for the job will have his career tarnished by the rejection.

That’s a load. What school districts across Texas learned this week is that La Marque had found two great candidates and could hire only one, meaning someone else out there could get lucky.

After the forum, Burley asked the crowd to trust his judgment in what was going to be a tough decision.

Because of the openness of this selection process, we think a lot of people will have a lot more respect for just how difficult this choice was.

Burley also said he hoped the community would show the same passion when it came to turning around the school’s academics.

Think about that. What would happen if school districts had the same commitment to openness in hiring superintendents and other top academic officials that La Marque has had to choosing an athletic director and football coach.

Wouldn’t that open process encourage the same remarkable level of public involvement that La Marque just witnessed? Would that be such a disaster?

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The one thing i've wondered is why do Head coaches leave LaMarque?

Erwin left to take a 5A job that paid a little more and also allowed him to be closer to his family... (He is originally from the DFW area.)  Weddell left to become an assistant coach at A&M and he's now the DC at tha University of Houston.  

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