Joe Prud’homme

Tyler native Joe Prud’homme is bringing his Texas Wesleyan University Rams football team to the Rose City on Saturday for a meeting with the Texas College Steers.

It will be a homecoming for Prud’homme as his Rams take on the Steers at 7 p.m. at Mewbourne Field on the campus of All Saints Episcopal School campus.

It is a Sooner Athletic Conference contest with TWU at 6-2 on the season and 5-1 in league play. TC is 1-6 and 1-5.

Prud’homme, son of Dr. Joseph Prud’homme and the late Mary Prud’homme, was an all-sports star at Bishop Gorman and later was a successful high school coach at his alma mater and then Fort Worth Nolan Catholic.

After winning seven state titles at Nolan, he took on the challenge of resurrecting a football program that had not competed on the gridiron in some 75 years.

He built the program from scratch — from promoting the program to the TWU students to designing uniforms and helmets for the Fort Worth school.

In the sixth year of their return, Prud’homme has the Rams in contention for a conference title, just a half-game behind leader Langston. In fact, Texas Wesleyan defeated Langston 53-28 on Oct. 20 in Fort Worth. Also, TWU earned a No. 18 ranking in the NAIA national Top 25 poll after scoring a 48-21 win over No. 20 Arizona Christian on Sept. 3 in Glendale, Arizona.

The program has come a long way since Prud’homme was hired as coach. At that time the Rams did not have a weight room, coaching offices or, for that matter, a stadium.

The Rams had not competed in football since World War II. The program was disbanded following the 1941 season as many of the players joined the service.

Texas Wesleyan president Fred Slabach was hired in 2011 and he was curious why a school in Fort Worth in football crazy Texas did not have a football team.

After tackling other on-campus issues, Slabach turned his attention to football and in turn turned to Prud’homme to bring TWU to the NAIA.

After initial questions on whether the school needed the program, Slabach noted most financial models showed how football would increase revenue — and enrollment — at the tuition-driven university.

With everyone on board, Slabach knew he had to find the right coach who not only cared about heights, weights and speeds, but also character and academics.

TWU found their man in Prud’homme, who led Gorman to the state finals in his first year as coach at 23 years old. He was named the All-East Texas Coach of the Year that season by the Tyler Morning Telegraph.

The 27-year high school coaching veteran was hired in February 2016 at TWU. Along with the seven state titles, Prud’homme had the Nolan Vikings in four other state finals. He compiled a record of 209-105-2 at Nolan.

Prud’homme, a University of Texas at Austin graduate and member of the Longhorns team while in the capital city, resides in Kennedale with his wife, Amanda. They have two children Joseph and Emily.

On Saturday, the Rose City welcomes back a native son.