High School Sports
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Gabriel Pruett
Huckaby excited about chance to come home
ORANGEFIELD — Twenty seven years is a long time to be away from home.
So after stops at Hardin-Jefferson, Wharton, Paul Pewitt and Hull Daisetta, Brian Huckaby is glad to be back home in Southeast Texas.
Huckaby was approved by the Orangefield ISD School Board Monday night to become the Bobcats’ athletic director/head football coach.
Huckaby spent last year at Hull Daisetta as an assistant principal.
Now he will try to turn around a program which went 1-7 in 2008 and has not made the playoffs since 2003.
“It’s just great to be back in Orange County,” Huckaby, a 1978 graduate of Bridge City, said. “I had a long trip getting here and it definitely feels like home.”
The move to become athletic director at Orangefield allows Huckaby’s wife, Mary, to stay on as superintendent of Hull Daisetta Independent School District.
“There is no way I could stand in front of her dream,” Huckaby said. “This will allow her to pursue her dream and it also lets me pursue my passion in a school district I have a ton of respect for.”
Huckaby went 63-27 in seven seasons at Paul Pewitt which plays in District 12-2A.
District 21-3A could be a lot different with teams such as West Orange-Stark and Silsbee lurking in the shadows. Bridge City, Hamshire-Fannett and Hardin-Jefferson could also be tough teams in 2009.
“There are tough districts all over the state,” Huckaby said. “A lot of people speculate over the alignment numbers and who is going to go where but I am not one of those people. I am not concerned with having an easy district or a tough district. It may be cliché but you have to take it one game at a time and give the kids their best chance to win football games.”
Huckaby knows he will have the support of a fierce community which always turns out in huge numbers at all Orangefield games.
“I love the 3A level,” Huckaby added. “The 3A communities are very supportive of their kids. I have been at bigger schools but really the 3A schools offer the kids great opportunities.
“I have learned over the years there is not some magic X’s and O’s. There are plenty of playbooks out there that have become winning formulas. It is really all about the fundamentals. We are going to stress ball control and try to set the pace of the game. I feel like that will give us the best opportunity to win games.”
The Bobcats will return nine starters on offense and six on defense this season so experience will be a key for Orangefield.
“It is all about doing things so you deserve to win games,” Huckaby said. “We are going to have to install confidence in them by them being confident in us coaches. It will start by getting to know them over the summer. That is the first step.”
The Bobcats begin the 2009 on Aug. 28 with a road trip to face East Chambers.
Gabriel Pruett is the editor at The Orange Leader. He can be reached at (409)721-2818 or at gpruett@orangeleader.com.
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