I have been blessed to have the great game of football in my life, both as a player and now as a coach. Even a greater blessing is the incredible collection of coaches that I have had the pleasure of getting to know, and work with. There have been old coaches that had the great stories, the young coaches that made the mistakes that everyone made fun of. Coaches that try to be the loudest person on the field, and coaches that with one word, could make you a better person. I"ll never forget the day that I met one of the greatest football coaches to ever work in high school football. His name is Jerry Robinson from Canyon High School.
In my first year at Canyon High School, I developed a great relationship with our head coach Blake Bryant, one of my best friends today, but I always walked on eggshells around Coach Rob. Not because of anything he said or did, but just because of that fear admiration, scared to death to screw up, awe that I felt when he was around. One of the best moments was when that first year ended, and Coach Rob came up to me, put his arm around my shoulders, again making me feel physically small, and said to me, "I wasn"t sure about you, but I want you to know that you did a terrific job of coaching this year." To this day, it is one of the best moments in my coaching career.
I"m in my eighth season with Coach Rob. Some have been good, some not-so-good, and some great. Over the last eight years, I"ve watched the way he coaches kids, and it"s worth watching. I"ve seen our QB"s, RB"s and WR"s all stop what they were doing to watch the linemen doing all of their drills, and I"ve heard their whispers when a lineman messed up and Coach Rob let him know about it. But I"ve also seen the kids that have come back after graduating, and how they can"t wait to see Coach Rob. He worked them hard, but everyone of them will tell you how much they love Coach Rob.
Coach Rob is the 7th of 8 sons: Randall, Ray, Duane (who is the topic of many of Coach Rob"s stories), Dale, Wendell (who is in the Texas Coaches Hall of Fame), Wynn (a former football coach), and James. He graduated from Crosbyton High School in 1969, and accepted a football scholarship to North Texas State University. He married his high school sweetheart, Nonette Mayes, on January 7, 1971, and they have two sons, Taylor and Jackson, who Coach Rob will gladly tell you about.
Coach Rob has completely restored 3 different cars, loves to play golf, a human almanac of useless knowledge about movies, especially westerns, and loves to travel. He and his wonderful wife are dear friends of our family, and nobody is better at rocking my kids to sleep than Nonette.
He has made me a better football coach, a better husband, a better father, and a better person. Many of you know great coaches across the state of Texas, but in my heart I know that if you don"t know Coach Rob, you"re missing out. We have bled, sweat, coached, prayed, cried, and laughed together. It has been my pleasure over the last eight years, and I hope there are many more to come. We love you, Coach Rob!
