Cliff Watkins is headed to Decatur, and the Eagles are getting a coach with a serious winning resume.
Decatur ISD’s board of trustees approved Watkins as the district’s next athletic director and head football coach Monday night, filling the vacancy left by Steve Huff, who departed in April to become the head coach and athletic coordinator at Chickasha High School in Oklahoma.
Watkins comes to Decatur after 10 seasons at Glen Rose, where he turned the Tigers into one of the most consistent Class 4A programs in the state. He took over before the 2016 season after Glen Rose had gone 3-7 the year before. From there, the Tigers became a machine.
Glen Rose went 92-36 under Watkins, won 10 straight district titles and posted a 46-0 district record during his tenure. The Tigers also made state semifinal appearances in 2022 and 2023 and reached the regional semifinals six times.
Before Glen Rose, Watkins served as the head coach at Eastland, where he went 22-5 across two seasons. He also had assistant coaching stops at Stephenville, Midland Lee, Breckenridge and Cisco, giving him a long track record across different corners of Texas high school football.
Now he takes over a Decatur program that already knows what deep playoff football looks like. The Eagles went 8-4 in 2025 and reached the regional semifinals before falling to Celina. Decatur also made state semifinal appearances in 2022 and 2023 under Huff.
That makes this less of a rebuild and more of a handoff between two proven winners. Watkins built Glen Rose into a district heavyweight. Decatur has already been operating as one of the stronger 4A programs in North Texas.
The next challenge comes in a newly built District 4-4A, where Decatur will compete with Alvarado, Aubrey, Carrollton Ranchview, Castleberry, Godley, Lake Dallas and Springtown.
Decatur is scheduled to scrimmage Saginaw and Azle before opening the 2026 season on the road against Eagle Mountain on Aug. 28.
Watkins arrives with a clear standard already attached to his name. Win district. Play deep into November. Keep the program moving. At Decatur, that expectation is not new, but now it belongs to him.
