Big and Bright: Deep in the Heart of Texas High School Football

by Gray Levy

Overview

Texas is a diverse state. But the one thing that binds Texans more than their state pride, even more than religion, is football. For the many towns and cities of Texas, high school football is more than a sport or an extracurricular activity—it’s the glue of their community. Author Gray Levy, a high school football coach for more than two decades, became disillusioned with the state of the education system nationwide and traveled to Texas, a place where high school football still matters, to see just what schools and communities were doing right. What he found will both confirm and debunk common presumptions about high school football in Texas, a complex phenomenon that varies by region, school size, and the ethnic diversity of the Lone Star State.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781630760892
Publisher:	Taylor Trade Publishing
Publication date:	09/02/2015
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	1,121,608
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Gray Levy started coaching high school football while attending the University of Nevada, Reno in the 1980s. After spending twenty years as a teacher for the Washoe County School District, he retired to pursue other interests. Big and Bright is his first book and his research in Texas was the first adventure of his post-teaching career. Levy spends summers traveling, falls coaching football, and winters skiing the Sierra Nevada. He is currently working on a new writing and coaching project about the growth of American football in Europe. He is a member of the American Football Coaches Association and the Professional Skier Association, and blogs at TexasFootballRoadTrip.com. Levy resides in Reno, Nevada, with his wife, daughter, granddaughter, and two dogs.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction ix

1 The Championship Drug

Week 1 La Marque Cougars 1

2 The Final Lesson

Week 2 Carthage Bulldogs 29

3 Winning the Old-Fashioned Way

Week 3 Port Lavaca Calhoun High School Sandcrabs 53

4 It's Our Time

Week 4 Stamford Bulldogs 77

5 Reload Mode

Week 5 Aledo Bearcats 103

6 Abilene's Finest Hour

Week 6 Abilene Eagles 125

7 Mercy Rule

Week 7 Throckmorton Greyhounds 157

8 Kiss a Fat Dog

Week 8 Idalou Wildcats 175

9 The Other Side of the Coin

Week 9 Stony Point Tigers 189

10 This is OUR Town

Week 10 Harlingen Cardinals 209

11 Longhorn Speed

Week 11 Cedar Hill Longhorns 227

Addendum 265

Afterword 275

Editorial Reviews

Big and Bright has captured what Texas High School Football means—not only to the players and coaches, but entire communities. There is nothing better than a Friday night in Texas—watching a high school football game and being a part of the passion that exists in this state—and Levy does a great job depicting what it’s like in many Texas communities. This book is a must-read for anybody that is a high school football fan!

Steve Warren

Big and Bright is a Texas-sized tour of high school football in the Lone Star state. It will take you from the locker rooms to the sidelines and into the hearts and minds of coaches, players, and fans.

Chris Park

Gray Levy accomplishes something that not many people can: capturing the true essence of the Texas high school football experience. Levy’s dispatches from across the Lone Star State transport readers to the sidelines, the bleachers, and the chain link fences alongside football fields across Texas on Friday night.

Greg Tepper

I love this book. In it, Levy shows the world what football in the state of Texas is all about: the bonds between the town, the school, and the community members. Big and Bright is a great read and makes me love football in this state even more. I am proud to coach in Texas.

Joey McGuire