Ganado's AD/HEAD COACH HEADED TO WACO

[warrior12]

BY MIKE FORMAN - MFORMAN@VICAD.COM Originally published January 18, 2010 at 11:42 p.m., updated January 18, 2010 at 11:50 p.m.
Ganado athletic director and head football coach Mike Rabe was looking for a new challenge after leading the Indians to consecutive Class 1A, Division II semifinal appearances and he found one.

Rabe was named the athletic director and head football coach at Class 3A Waco Connally on Monday night. Rabe's hiring was approved by a 7-0 vote of the Connally school district board of trustees.

"I'm excited about the move and about the challenge," Rabe said while driving back to Ganado from Waco. "There's a lot of potential at Connally. I feel like with the program we'll install we'll be successful."

Rabe, 33, has been at Ganado for four seasons and has an overall record of 22-25.

The Indians were a Class 2A school for the first two years of Rabe's tenure before dropping to Class 1A and advancing to the semifinals in 2008 and 2009 and losing to Cayuga.

"We had a great bunch of kids that we were with for the last two years," Rabe said. "They bought into system and did what we wanted to do. They started having success and stuck together and went a long way in the playoffs."

Rabe is a graduate of Cuero where he played football under Mickey Finley. Rabe began his coaching career at Huntsville before joining Finley's staff at Arlington High and coaching with him at Cleburne.

Rabe will replace interim coach Steve Hoffmann at Connally. The Cadets went 4-6 last season.

"I've been looking to move up to the 3A classification since that's where I played in high school," Rabe said. "This will allow me to get back to that level. It's an excellent job and a good fit for me."

Andy Bridges, the high school principal in Ganado, said Rabe's resignation will likely be accepted at Thursday night's board of trustees meeting and the district would come up with a plan to hire his successor.

[44INAROW]

Congrats to Mike.. Waco Connally got a good one!:clap: :clap:

[Cowboy_Up]

Best of luck to Coach Rabe.
There is some good young talent over there in Ganado and their next two years should be very good if they can find someone who can live with the BYB.
I do some business in Indian country every now and then and the way some folks talk over there you'd think Ganado went 0-10 the last two years instead of back to back region championships and visits to the state semis. I don't think losing in the semis in consecutive years to Cayuga is anything to be ashamed of.

[44INAROW]

I've been hearing about the BYB for years... Gotta love the "Good Ole Boy" thinking sometimes :D

[Bearkat]

Congrats Coach. Good to see those old Bearkats making a name for themselves.

[SHSBulldog00]

Congrats! He really is a good guy. I met him a few times. Best of Luck in Waco.

[NastySlot]

BYB is that BackYardBoys?

[44INAROW]

Originally posted by NastySlot
BYB is that BackYardBoys?

close - Back Yard Boosters.. Not sure if they are a "real" group or what, but I've heard about them for years :p

[NastySlot]

Originally posted by 44INAROW
close - Back Yard Boosters.. Not sure if they are a "real" group or what, but I've heard about them for years :p


yeah I've heard about them...just couldn't remember what they called themselves....got a buddy i work with from Ganado...he has told me about these guys.

[12thMan]

Yea, it's called the back yard boosters. I work with an ex Ganado Indian. Like someone said earlier, you would of thought Ganado went 0-10 last year. They lost a good coach and a true winner. He knows how to get those players motivated come playoff time!!

[Gobbla2001]

Originally posted by 44INAROW
close - Back Yard Boosters.. Not sure if they are a "real" group or what, but I've heard about them for years :p

work with one of them... from my understanding they don't refer to themselves as a group... they just truely believe in "hands on"... our taxes pay the salaries for these schools and their employees, we'll come and go as we please...

went into a bar outside of Ganado one Sat. night after an Indian playoff win (1st or 2nd round)..... there was one guy in there with his wife...... we argued about Ganado football for about 10 minutes... he didn't even care that Ganado was in the playoffs and had just won... he was pissed and was hoping they'd fire the coaches...

[zebrablue2]

Originally posted by 44INAROW
Congrats to Mike.. Waco Connally got a good one!:clap: :clap:



:iagree: worked his sideline 2 yrs ago, and he is truly a first class coach who has his stuff together on the field. his wife is the softball coach over there, and she does a great job. best of luck to them in waco..

[Bearkat]

Originally posted by Gobbla2001
work with one of them... from my understanding they don't refer to themselves as a group... they just truely believe in "hands on"... our taxes pay the salaries for these schools and their employees, we'll come and go as we please...



I can't stand people like this. "Our taxes pay the salaries for these schools and their employees, we'll come and go as we please." That's a bunch of bull crap!!! How do the tax payers now where their money goes? Does each individual tax payer get a statement that says, your taxes went to the head coaches salary this month? No, they don't. For all they know, their taxes are paying for heating and A/C in the school. Maybe they should bust into the school and take the heater or A/C away. Heck, the taxes that these "back yard boosters" pay may be paying the grounds crew to mow the lawn around the elementary school. Maybe they should take the lawn mower home and mow their own yards since they pay taxes. What about the paper that tests and worksheets are on? The "back yard boosters" could complain about this stuff also since they pay taxes. Oh wait, you mean they don't interfere with this type of stuff. Why not? They pay their taxes. They should be able to come and go as they please. These people are clueless.

Sorry about that guys, I got a little worked up. I'm glad Coach Rabe and his family are leaving. No coach wants this kind of support. Again, congrats and good luck in Waco Mike.

[cookiemonster]

I pay my electric bill so can I force them to lower rates. I must have some say since part of my money pays their salary.

[Gobbla2001]

Okay... dug some more info out of the "backyard booster" from work... He is no longer a backyard booster but he clearly knows what is going on...

#1 I was wrong, they are an established group in Ganado that do not hide their affiliation...

#2 It is VERRRY damn interesting...

school superintendent? house remodeled via two donars with $$$ (which IMO they need to spend on that crappy golf-course) aka:"backyard boosters"...

maybe... "probably" (LIKELY and almost damn sure via source): the superintendent made calls to schools/districts with interest in Rabe making a case that he was "NOT" the right man for the job...

I'm pretty sure this goes on in plenty of places... but it's cool to get an inside scoop...

the feel I get is Rabe wasn't very comfortable there... know a little more inside stuff but it's a tad more personal in regards to Rabe and his family so I will stop here...

[Gobbla2001]

Originally posted by Bearkat
I can't stand people like this. "Our taxes pay the salaries for these schools and their employees, we'll come and go as we please." That's a bunch of bull crap!!! How do the tax payers now where their money goes? Does each individual tax payer get a statement that says, your taxes went to the head coaches salary this month? No, they don't. For all they know, their taxes are paying for heating and A/C in the school. Maybe they should bust into the school and take the heater or A/C away. Heck, the taxes that these "back yard boosters" pay may be paying the grounds crew to mow the lawn around the elementary school. Maybe they should take the lawn mower home and mow their own yards since they pay taxes. What about the paper that tests and worksheets are on? The "back yard boosters" could complain about this stuff also since they pay taxes. Oh wait, you mean they don't interfere with this type of stuff. Why not? They pay their taxes. They should be able to come and go as they please. These people are clueless.

Sorry about that guys, I got a little worked up. I'm glad Coach Rabe and his family are leaving. No coach wants this kind of support. Again, congrats and good luck in Waco Mike.

I know what you're getting at, but I'll paraphrase what a Texas State Senator said about our (OUR) state capitol building:

"Somtimes I'll step out of my office around 9p or so and there'll be citizens roaming around inside the capitol building just lookin' around, which is fine because it doesn't close 'til 10 and it is their house..."

believe it was Dan Patrick (state sen., not sports guy) that said that (today... like, on the radio so it may not be "at your search" just yet)

[Go Cuero]

Very proud of Mike!! He and his wife are both great coaches. Good bye BYB!!