CAREER HEAD COACHING WINS (*ACTIVE)
- 490-Phil Danaher, Corpus Christi Calallen
- 446-Randy Allen, Highland Park*
- 426-G.A. Moore, Celina
- 394-Gordon Wood, Brownwood
- 360-Denney Faith, Albany*
- 343-Jim Streety, San Antonio Madison
- 340-Reginal Samples, Duncanville*
- 340-Dennis Alexander, Troup
- 317-Curtis Barbay, Newton
- 315-Charlie Johnston, Childress
- 311-Larry Hill, Smithson Valley*
Sometime during the 2024 season, Smithson Valley head coach Larry Hill
more than likely will move into the top 10 for career head coaching wins in Texas
high school football history. When he does, his biggest fan, his most candid critic,
and his inspiration will not be there. His father Glenn Hill Sr. died on August 3.
Larry’s trip to Texas high school coaching immortality began on a visit to the
neighborhood grocery with his dad and older brother Glenn Jr. The boys were in
elementary school, decades away from becoming successful high school coaches.
Glenn Sr. was the head football coach and athletic director at San Antonio East
Central. Mother Millie needed something for dinner.
It was Glenn Sr. who answered when someone two aisles over yelled, “Coach
Hill!” A haggard man excitedly approached the Hills. He asked if his former head
coach remembered him. “I sure do,” Coach Hill said and called him by his =rst
name.
“This man had been out of high school for about 15 years. He couldn’t have
been happier to see my dad,” Larry said. “He had a rather hard luck story. A stint
in Viet Nam. Involved with drug and alcohol abuse. A broken marriage. He even
said that he had contemplated suicide.”
Larry had known that he wanted to be a high school football coach since
before he was out of diapers. This disabled veteran was about to teach him
something about coaching he would never forget.
“The reason that I didn’t take my life was because of something you told us
back in high school,” the vet said to his former coach. “You told us that we were
important. You told us that God doesn’t make mistakes. And He didn’t make one
with us. That’s what saved my life.”
When the man walked away, Larry asked his dad if the man was a good
player. “He was one of the worst players I ever coachd,” Glenn Sr. said.
“Even though I was only seven or eight years old, I remember being hit with
the realization that what my dad was doing was more important than just winning
football games,” Larry said. “I knew he was doing something far greater than that.
And if I ever got the chance to coach, I wanted to have an impact on kids like that.”
(Portions of the preceding were taken from an article first published in the
September 2006 issue of The San Antonio Christian Beacon.)
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