ALLEN WILSON

Allen Wilson, who resurrected a John Tyler High School football program to be one of the best in Texas, has been named a Texas High School Coaches Association Class of 2018 Hall of Honor inductee, the THSCA announced Friday.

Wilson, who invented the name Cujo for the Lions’ program, led JT to the 1994 Class 5A Division II state championship with a 16-0 record. His Lions were perennial contenders and made a state finals appearance in 2000.

Other inductees will be Joe Clements, Wally Freytag, Alan Weddell and Robert Woods. Other award winners are Putt Powell Sportswriter of the Year Kale Steed of the Amarillo Globe News, Curly Hays Officials Award Michael Fitch of the Fort Worth Chapter, Trainer of the Year Debby Winder of Stephenville, Tom Landry Award Hal Wasson and Distinguished Service Award Jim Faulk of San Antonio Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

The 2018 Hall of Honor Inductees were unanimously approved at the March meeting of the THSCA board of directors.

The inductees will be honored at the THSCA Hall of Honor Banquet, sponsored by Balfour, in San Antonio on Saturday, July 21 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at 7 p.m.

The banquet is held in conjunction with the annual THSCA Coaching School and Convention, which will take place July 22-24 in San Antonio.

Tickets to the luncheon are $50 each and can be purchased by downloading the ticket form from the THSCA website (www.thsca.com).

In his 11 seasons at JT (1991 to 2001), Wilson compiled a record of 102-34-2. He led the Lions to three district championships and nine playoff appearances. At JT, five of his teams won at least 11 games.

Current JT coach Ricklan Holmes, who played for

Wilson at JT and later was a star at Oklahoma State and played for the New England Patriots, tweeted:

“So happy for Coach Wilson, well deserved and glad to have been coached by him. Taught me more about life than he will ever know, along with making me a great football player. Thank you coach for opening up doors for me and other coaches like myself,” @RicklanHolmes.

A graduate of Midland Lee High School and Abilene Christian University, Wilson got his first head coaching job at Paris High School in 1983. He remained in that position for eight years, winning four district championships and guiding his team to a state championship in 1988.

After JT, his final coaching stop was at Dallas Carter from 2002-2010 where he was 44-5 in his first four years. In his nine years at the helm, his teams posted nine wins or better seven of those years.

In his 28 years as a head coach, Wilson posted a career record is 246-90-4 with 22 trips to the playoffs, 14 district championships and two state championships.

OTHER HONOREES

• Joe Clements’ career as a head coach was launched at Houston Lee High School in 1967. After an initial winning season (6-2-2), his record steadily improved. From Lee HS, he continued to build on his successes as head coach at Kingsville from 1972 to 1975, and finally at Huntsville HS where his team won the 1980 Class 3A state championship. He set a state record in 1985 of 51 consecutive district wins and his Huntsville teams competed in post season playoffs 14 of his 19 years with a record of 170-44-3. Clements’ head coaching career spanned 27 years, with an overall record of 222-76-6. Clements retired in 1994. He passed away in 2015.

• Wally Freytag began his coaching career in 1961 at Pearce Junior High in Austin. He then went to Austin Reagan in 1965, moving up to head coach in 1974. With the exception of 1975 when Reagan was 4-51, Freytag never had a losing season making the playoffs nine times and winning seven district championships. He amassed a career record of 129-42-5 in his 16 years at Reagan High School. In 1989 he became athletic director for the Austin Independent School District and served in that capacity until his retirement.

• Alan Weddell’s first head coaching job was at Victoria High School from 1982-89 where he amassed a 46-32-2 record and two district championships. In 1990, he became head coach at La Marque and led the Cougars to a 103-13 record in his eight years at the helm with two state finals appearances in 1993 and 1994 and three back-to-back state championships in 1995, 1996 and 1997. The 1997 THSCA All-Star coach left the high school ranks to become an assistant coach at Texas A&M and then University of Houston before returning in 2010 as assistant head coach at Brazoswood.

• Robert Woods’ coaching career began in Plano where he went from seventh grade coach to varsity assistant in 1977. From 1977-87 he was part of a coaching staff that won three state titles. In 1988 he became head coach at Wilmer-Hutchins HS and in his six years at the helm, his teams qualified for the playoffs five times and won the state championship in 1990. He was also named 4A Coach of the Year. After three years at Crowley, he became head coach at Cedar Hill from 1994 until 2003 when he became as assistant coach in the Dallas ISD. He served his last two years as head coach at Dallas Jefferson before his retirement. Woods was a THSCA All-Star coach twice, once in 1980 with the Plano staff and as head coach in 1992.

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