Farmers get new head coach, AD
Creekview defensive coordinator takes over football duties
Following a long and thorough search, Farmersville ISD named former Carrollton Creekview defensive coordinator Ross Dodson at its new head football coach and athletic director.
“The fact that it was a (Class) 2A going to a 3A kind of drew me to the job,” Dodson said. “I have been a 3A head coach for nine years, and I really loved 3A football.
I’ve talked to people, and they said it was an awesome football job, as far as kids were concerned. This is a tremendous job.”
He replaces Keith Wright, who left to take the head coaching job at South Garland.
Prior to being an assistant coach at Creekview, Dodson was the head coach at Divine High School, L.D. Bell and Breckenridge.
While at Breckenridge, his Buckaroos were ranked in the Top 10 in Texas for 39 weeks, something that had never been done before.
His other assistant jobs are as follows: University of Central Oklahoma, Muleshoe High School, Hobbs High School, N.M., Plainview High School and North Mesquite High School.
Dodson will also have to replace a majority of the assistant coaches, which he knew about before he took the job.
“I knew taking the job that they were planning on leaving,” he said. “There is always a deal where everything has to work out. As they leave we will replace them.”
Dodson also will coach the junior high teams and will be actively involved in the off season programs.
He believes that allowing players to compete while they are in junior high is key to the program’s growth.
“At that time we want to be able to get them into games and let them play,” Dodson said. “We want to give them the opportunity to play and compete.
When you do that normally good things happen, and they’ll come out the next year.”
The Farmers will run nearly the same offensive and defensive schemes as they did in 2007.
“It’s (offense) going to be very similar,” Dodson said. “It will be based out of the I formation.
Those kids do a great job of it. We have those offensive linemen back. We plan on doing what those kids know.
There will be personal changes (on defense) in the way that you line up in alignment. We are still going to do a lot of what they did though.
That is kind of what I have done my whole career.
Some of it will be the same, and some will be totally new. It all depends on how the personal goes.”
The 2009 team will compete in 13-3A, which consists of cross-lake rival Princeton, Community, Emory Rains, Lucas Lovejoy (in its first-year of varsity action) and Quinlan Ford.
The Farmers kick off the season with a pair of scrimmages against Canton (Aug. 16) and Palmer (Aug. 22). The non-district schedule consists of Winnsboro (Aug. 29), Prosper (Sept. 5), Wills Point (Sept. 12), Van Alstyne (Sept. 19) and Pottsboro (Sept. 26).
The district season begins Oct. 10 versus Lucas Lovejoy and continues with Emory Rains (Oct. 17), Community (Oct. 24), Quinlan Ford (Oct. 24) and the season finale versus Princeton.
“It’s a good football district,” Dodson said. “The non-district games are going to be good.
All but two of those teams are 2A (Pottsboro and Winnsboro).”
