COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS - On a cloudy, rainy night in early December, a family is preparing to embark on a journey years in the making. This is no ordinary family, however, but rather one whose position may come as an anomaly to many outsiders. To this group, there is something about the camaraderie they share that makes their efforts worth the while.
To the casual high school football fan, this story would come as just another team vying for a chance to play for a State Championship, but to the Texas High School Football purist, the success this now 5A powerhouse has is an impressive feat.
The daily routine is simple: walk in with the commitment to work, and greet your coaches to develop meaningful relationships that extend beyond the lines of football, for something bigger than yourself, for your brothers. Every day, first coach in the hallway is College Station High School Head Football Coach Steve Huff, who has been at the forefront of the program from the first day of its existence in 2012.
From starting a new program consisting of only freshmen and sophomores, who would ride their bikes to two-a-days because only 11 on the entire team could drive, to now, with the Cougars on the cusp of their first ever 5A State Championship berth in only their third season of varsity competition in the University Interscholastic League. Many schools fail to ever reach this juncture in their history, let alone so quickly, but Huff credits this to a culture that was established from day one.
“The whole time, we’ve had a group of kids that worked really hard and have a great staff, not only in football, but in all sports.” Huff said.
Boasting an undefeated 14-0 record amassed this season, the Cougars notched their first district title after a narrow 17-16 victory over Temple, a win which galvanized the team to reach for new heights heading into postseason play. As the eyes of the state see the fruits of the Cougars labor, the nature of winning was bred long before any player stepped on the field.
“It was very opportunistic for me to come in and hire this staff,” said Huff, as he spoke about receiving the go ahead from former Principal Mike Martindale to build his staff from the ground up.
“He told me ‘Here’s how many spots we’ve got’ and we just started hiring. I think that was the first thing, getting the right people in place.” Huff said.
While football played their inaugural season, in which they recorded a 6-4 mark playing a multitude of teams ranging all the classes and divisions, the coaching staff was making strides on other fronts as well. The unique nature established in the hiring process of the individuals on the coaching staff was that they also play a part in other sports on campus, sports that have experienced major successes of their own as well.
“The baseball team has won a state championship and Coach Holder is also my head freshman football coach and Coach Pryor, my offensive coordinator, has been in the state tournament the last two years with girls’ soccer” as Huff reeled off each of the members of his staff by memory and their additional positions outside of football.
“I think it’s been a great translation because football was behind the other sports in terms of alignment the first couple of years,” the Head Coach said. “When we hired here, we hired like a small school, and it’s been huge for the program.”
Now the brotherhood of coaches and players will travel to San Antonio and face Phil Danaher’s Corpus Christi Calallen (13-1) under the bright lights of the iconic Alamodome on Friday. Huff, his staff, and players are excited for the occasion on the big stage, but he added his team will remember what is at stake in their preparation.
“I think this time of year, it’s a pretty good deal to play inside,” Huff said as the rain fell outside. “But at the end of the day it’s football. No matter if it’s a big stadium, small stadium, you have to come to play.”
The high expectations are all the same at College Station High School. The friendly competitiveness between the sports creates a winning mentality that the football Cougars will see if they can add to as they vie to earn their chance to bring another state championship to campus.
Whatever the result may be on Friday night, Huff knows his football “family” will be up for the challenge for not only themselves, but for the team they represent.
“This is a tight knit group as the year goes along you see them start to get closer and they start to believe they are getting closer,” Huff said. “and when they are as close as that you’ll do anything for each other.”
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