KFDM COOP Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 New Gander coach set to take the helm From staff reports Baytown Sun Published February 10, 2009 - Updated 17 minutes ago Marvin Sedberry Jr. was chosen as the campus coordinator and head football coach for Robert E. Lee High School during the Feb. 9 meeting of the Goose Creek CISD Board of Trustees. Sedberry, 30, has served as athletic coordinator and head football coach at Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth since 2007. There, Coach Sedberry took over a football program that had won only two games in three years. Coach Sedberry increased the win total at Polytechnic in two seasons, totaling more than the previous six seasons combined. In 2008, Sedberry’s football team was 4-6. Even more remarkable, Coach Sedberry was able to reduce the football squad’s failure rate from 51 percent to 2 percent in just two seasons, while increasing participation in the football program, and promoting dual sport participation. Sedberry is entering his ninth year of teaching and coaching. Before arriving at Poly High School, Sedberry was the offensive coordinator at Lake Highlands High School in Richardson. He has worked his way up the ranks starting at the junior high level. He has coached football, powerlifting, basketball and track. Coach Sedberry Jr., has also served as a student coach and teacher at Greenville High School in Greenville. At both 4A Greenville and 5A Lake Highlands, Coach Sedberry was a member of coaching staffs that earned playoff berths in football. Sedberry said he was attracted to Baytown Lee because of its strong winning tradition and track record of having great athletes. “Robert E. Lee is a recognized program across the state of Texas with high standards which makes it my kind of atmosphere,†Sedberry said. “The town of Baytown is an awesome town with a great sense of community spirit and school pride. I am excited about this opportunity to carry on such rich traditions.†The new coach’s immediate goals are to: • “Re-establish the tradition of being a playoff contender every year, and • “Create an exciting atmosphere at all levels from junior high to high school about Lee football.†Sedberry is a graduate of Poteet High School in Mesquite. He attended the University of Texas A&M at Commerce where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology. Sedberry was on both the Dean’s List and the President’s List at Texas A&M Commerce. Sedberry is a product of a coaching family. His father, Marvin Sedberry Sr. has coached for 35 years at several Texas high schools and is currently the athletic director for the Alief ISD. “I have been around athletics all my life. Early on I knew I wanted to coach football because of the thrill of competition and being the best,†said Sedberry. “It has been a privilege to have such a great role model as my father. Watching his work ethic and meticulous preparation for opponents has instilled poise, pride, class and discipline in my own career.†Bruce Davis, principal of Robert E. Lee, said he believes that the Gander faithful will be very impressed with Coach Sedberry's professionalism and demeanor. “He will be a great role model for not only our athletes but for the entire student body,†said Davis. “His enthusiasm is terrific, and his caring spirit for both academics and athletics is very apparent.†Davis and Goose Creek CISD athletic director Tom Ed Gooden believe that Sedberry is the right person for the job. “Coach Sedberry is a high-energy coach who relates very well with today’s athletes. Everyone we talked to gave him extremely high marks regarding his ability to work with athletes, coaches, parents, fans and administration,†Gooden said. “During his short career, he has been mentored by some of the most respected coaches in the business. We are really excited that he will be a part of the Lee High School and Goose Creek CISD family,†Gooden said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KFDM COOP Posted February 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 New Gander coach set to take the helm From staff reports Baytown Sun Published February 10, 2009 - Updated 17 minutes ago Marvin Sedberry Jr. was chosen as the campus coordinator and head football coach for Robert E. Lee High School during the Feb. 9 meeting of the Goose Creek CISD Board of Trustees. Sedberry, 30, has served as athletic coordinator and head football coach at Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth since 2007. There, Coach Sedberry took over a football program that had won only two games in three years. Coach Sedberry increased the win total at Polytechnic in two seasons, totaling more than the previous six seasons combined. In 2008, Sedberry’s football team was 4-6. Even more remarkable, Coach Sedberry was able to reduce the football squad’s failure rate from 51 percent to 2 percent in just two seasons, while increasing participation in the football program, and promoting dual sport participation. Sedberry is entering his ninth year of teaching and coaching. Before arriving at Poly High School, Sedberry was the offensive coordinator at Lake Highlands High School in Richardson. He has worked his way up the ranks starting at the junior high level. He has coached football, powerlifting, basketball and track. Coach Sedberry Jr., has also served as a student coach and teacher at Greenville High School in Greenville. At both 4A Greenville and 5A Lake Highlands, Coach Sedberry was a member of coaching staffs that earned playoff berths in football. Sedberry said he was attracted to Baytown Lee because of its strong winning tradition and track record of having great athletes. “Robert E. Lee is a recognized program across the state of Texas with high standards which makes it my kind of atmosphere,†Sedberry said. “The town of Baytown is an awesome town with a great sense of community spirit and school pride. I am excited about this opportunity to carry on such rich traditions.†The new coach’s immediate goals are to: • “Re-establish the tradition of being a playoff contender every year, and • “Create an exciting atmosphere at all levels from junior high to high school about Lee football.†Sedberry is a graduate of Poteet High School in Mesquite. He attended the University of Texas A&M at Commerce where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology. Sedberry was on both the Dean’s List and the President’s List at Texas A&M Commerce. Sedberry is a product of a coaching family. His father, Marvin Sedberry Sr. has coached for 35 years at several Texas high schools and is currently the athletic director for the Alief ISD. “I have been around athletics all my life. Early on I knew I wanted to coach football because of the thrill of competition and being the best,†said Sedberry. “It has been a privilege to have such a great role model as my father. Watching his work ethic and meticulous preparation for opponents has instilled poise, pride, class and discipline in my own career.†Bruce Davis, principal of Robert E. Lee, said he believes that the Gander faithful will be very impressed with Coach Sedberry's professionalism and demeanor. “He will be a great role model for not only our athletes but for the entire student body,†said Davis. “His enthusiasm is terrific, and his caring spirit for both academics and athletics is very apparent.†Davis and Goose Creek CISD athletic director Tom Ed Gooden believe that Sedberry is the right person for the job. “Coach Sedberry is a high-energy coach who relates very well with today’s athletes. Everyone we talked to gave him extremely high marks regarding his ability to work with athletes, coaches, parents, fans and administration,†Gooden said. “During his short career, he has been mentored by some of the most respected coaches in the business. We are really excited that he will be a part of the Lee High School and Goose Creek CISD family,†Gooden said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KFDM COOP Posted February 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Good hire!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFA85 Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 His old man was a good coach in the early 90's @Central. He would've been good for PAM if only he applied..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary-us-bonds Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I'l take him. I'm excited about the fact that they got a young coach. We need someone to infuse some excitement back into the program and get all the kids out and playing ball again. I notice they mention that he is a proponent of kids playing more than one sport. Olin was big time against kids wanting to play basketball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNedDog Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 His old man was a good coach in the early 90's @Central. He would've been good for PAM if only he applied..... I knew the name sounded familiar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silentassasin Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 So what will this mean as far as the guy on the staff that a lot of you were saying should be named to replace Olin? Will he stay put? Is Sedberry going to clean house and bring in a bunch of his own guys? Anyone know any inside info? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Buddy Garrity Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 great hire! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KFDM COOP Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Principal calls new coach ‘great fit’ for Lee By Dave Rogers Published February 11, 2009 Robert E. Lee’s new head football coach recalled that on one of his recent trips after applying to be the new Gander Commander he left Fort Worth in 40-degree weather, arrived to a balmy 70 degrees in Baytown, then returned home that night to an ice storm. The transition from coaching in urban Fort Worth to a suburb of Houston shouldn’t be nearly as extreme for Marvin Sedberry, Jr. According to figures contained in reports for the 2007-2008 school year published on the Texas Education Agency’s Web site, Sedberry’s old school, Fort Worth Polytechnic, had a student population that was 64 percent Hispanic, 32 percent African-American and 70.4 percent of its students were considered economically disadvantaged, which means they qualify for the state’s free or reduced lunch program. The same AEIS (Academic Excellence Indicator System) report for Robert E. Lee shows a student population that in 2007-2008 was 53 percent Hispanic, 21 percent African-American and 62.5 percent economically disadvantaged. “When you drive in the neighborhood there, it looks awfully similar to the neighborhood around Lee High School — without the refineries,†said Tom Ed Gooden, the Goose Creek athletic director who traveled to Fort Worth last week with others on the coaching selection committee to observe Sedberry at work. Monday night, the Goose Creek school board approved the hiring of Sedberry as Lee’s sixth head football coach since 1940. He succeeds Dick Olin, who resigned after 17 years in December to take a similar job at Lewisville High School. Sedberry becomes the GCCISD’s first African-American head football coach. “We were looking for the best person regardless of skin color,†Lee principal Bruce Davis, another member of the search committee, said. “We feel like he’s just a great fit. Certainly, at the school he’s been at, Fort Worth Poly, there are similar situations. We just feel like he’s got an excellent opportunity to take our kids to the next level. “We’re very excited. I’m extremely excited. I think he’s going to be a great role model for the kids. He’s very enthusiastic. He cares about the kids, which is obviously what we’re looking for.†For his first head coaching job, Sedberry took on the challenge of a Class 4A program that has struggled for decades. One Internet site went back as far as 1986 without showing a season in which Poly’s Parrots won more than they lost. Poly’s football teams had gone 2-8, 4-6, 0-10, 1-9 and 1-7 in the five years before Sedberry’s arrival in 2007, an average of 1.6 wins per season. His first team there was 3-6. He followed that with a 4-6 campaign last year, going 2-4 each year in District 7-4A games. “When I got there, there were 40 kids in the program,†he said. “I got it up to 100.†Participation in football – and all athletic programs – has declined at Lee in recent years faster than its overall decline in enrollment. With about 2,000 students – roughly twice the number at Poly – Lee has fewer than 100 players currently in its football program. The Ganders’ once-storied program has averaged just four wins a year the past five seasons. So how did Sedberry increase participation? “By showing the kids you genuinely care what they’re about and what they’re doing,†he said. Sedberry spent Tuesday on campus at Lee and met with the Gander athletes and their coaches at the Lee fieldhouse. As he still must be released from his contract in Fort Worth, the new coach hopes to be on the job full-time in a couple of weeks. He said he will “go through an evaluation process†before making any decisions on his coaching staff and he will tailor his offensive strategies to his new players’ abilities. “I’ve gone from the Wishbone to the wing-T to the spread,†he said, citing the offenses run at his last three coaching stops. “I want to assess the talent we have and do what gives us the best chance to be playing in the postseason.†Although Sedberry is only 30 years old and only has two years of experience as a head coach, no one who knows him sees that as a problem. “For a young coach, he has a lot of maturity,†Fort Worth athletic director Herb Stephens said Tuesday. “We’re excited for him and obviously sad to see him go. “He did a good job at Poly. They played well and his kids played hard. They played hard for the entire game.†Sedberry’s father, Marvin Sedberry Sr., is currently athletic director for the Alief school district. In 20 years as a head coach at Wilmer-Hutchins, Beaumont Central, Dallas Carter, Greenville and Bryan he had a record of 135-89-2. “He’s worked with some exceptional people,†Gooden said of the younger Sedberry. Prior to moving to Fort Worth, Sedberry was a student coach under his dad at Greenville, then spent six years in the Richardson school district, where he was originally hired by current Abilene ISD athletic director Jerry Gayden. He was promoted each year, starting as a junior high coach and ultimately landing the offensive coordinator’s job at Dallas Lake Highlands after former Odessa Permian coach Scott Smith took over there. “It says a lot about a coach when a new guy comes in and not only keeps him on staff but makes him a coordinator,†Gooden said. “That’s what coach Smith did when he came to Lake Highlands.†Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts