wildstangs
09-17-2008, 08:04 PM
Good read about Coach Stapler, the man who turned the Sweetwater program around.
Catching up with coaching legend W.T. Stapler
By MIKE LEE
Friday, September 12, 2008
W.T. Stapler admits to being a sucker for a challenge.
The longtime, now-retired Texas high school football coach shocked the state in 1980 when he left an established program at Conroe, which competed in the largest classification, for Sweetwater, which at the time had averaged two wins per year while struggling to seven consecutive losing seasons.
A one-time assistant at Conroe, Stapler had become its head coach and molded the Tigers into a perennial playoff entry in Class 4A (present-day 5A). He averaged nine wins per season at Conroe, and his .792 winning percentage remains the best in school history. He maintained a streak of winning seasons that eventually reached 26.
"We were going a couple of rounds in the playoffs every year at Conroe," Stapler said. "We were playing playoff games at the Astrodome, Kyle Field and Baylor Stadium. I could have stayed there as long as I wanted."
But having raised their two children, Stapler and his wife, Betty, wanted to move back to their native West Texas. They had been high school sweethearts at Hamlin, located 40 miles northwest of Abilene, in the early 1950s. Stapler tried to get the vacant San Angelo Central head coaching position in 1978 when it went to Jimmie Keeling.
In 1980, the only opening at a larger school in West Texas was at Sweetwater, which had won 14 games in its previous seven seasons and hadn't made the playoffs since 1964.
Stapler traveled to Sweetwater, interviewed for the job and even stayed an extra day to be sure. At age 47, he realized the career risk he was taking, leaving a school with four times the enrollment of Sweetwater.
"People said I was crazy, but there was a commitment there (Sweetwater) that you could just sense," said Stapler, now 75 and living in Abilene. "They'd had a change in the school board, and they were doing a lot of building and improvements to the school.
"Those people wanted to do something. I've been the type that I'll always take a challenge. I like the underdog role."
The first thing Stapler realized was that he couldn't lure veteran assistant coaches to Sweetwater to join its struggling program. So he hired young assistants such as Art Briles, who later won four state championships at Stephenville and now is the head coach at Baylor; Mike Lebby and Blaine Springston, who both became accomplished head coaches at high schools.
"Those young guys came in and worked their tails off," Stapler said. "Being young, they related well to the players, and they were big on weight lifting, which we found out later wasn't happening in a lot of programs in West Texas at the time."
Stapler and his young staff finished 6-4 in their first year in 1980, prompting "Stapler for Mayor" signs to pop up at Sweetwater games. The school stepped up its commitment by spending $500,000 on a new field house and indoor practice facility.
Meanwhile, the charismatic coach encouraged Sweetwater fans to wear red shirts to the games, starting a fashion trend that's still followed today in Sweetwater.
"He was credited for all those red shirts and getting the community behind the team," said Bill Hart, a sportswriter for the Abilene Reporter-News during Stapler's tenure at Sweetwater. "That was a tough nut to crack back then because they'd had a lot of losing."
The initial 6-4 record was followed by finishes of 6-4, 7-3 and 7-2-1. Stapler had Sweetwater winning but not making the playoffs. But late in the 1983 season, the turning point came with a two-point loss to San Angelo Lake View that knocked Sweetwater out of playoff contention.
"It was a heartbreaking loss," Stapler said. "The kids had a chance to, you know, tuck it in, but instead, they went back to work. They were determined to get over the hump."
The two seasons that followed are ones Stapler will never forget. In 1984, Sweetwater ended its 20-year playoff drought, won 12 games and advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals. In 1985, with all-state safety and running back Mike Welch leading the way, the Mustangs went 13-1-1 and beat Tomball to win the 4A state championship.
"It was such a rewarding time to go into that community that wanted to win, but probably didn't have all that much faith," Stapler said. "When we went there, the community was split over whether to build a new courthouse or restore the old one, and they were in the middle of a horrible drought.
"To have a bunch of 16- and 17-year-old kids get the community to get its head up and come alive and become great fans was special. We had great fan followings to our playoff games, and I know we were cutting into their finances to follow us so far. We heard stories of people that hocked and pawned their microwave ovens for gas money."
In only six seasons, Stapler had taken a program known for losing and transformed it into a state champion. It happened so quickly, even he sometimes wondered if it really happened. Then, just as quickly, Stapler was gone.
Other rebuilding challenges lay ahead at Saginaw Boswell, Andrews and Brownwood. Nowadays, Stapler wonders why he ever left Sweetwater.
"I've told so many stories about why I left through the years, that now, I'm not sure what the real reason was," Stapler said.
Some would argue that Stapler never left Sweetwater. Coaches rebuild football programs all the time. Not many do it so well that the program is still reaping the rewards two decades later.
In the 22 seasons since Stapler left, Sweetwater has averaged nine wins per season. The Mustangs have made the playoffs 19 times in the past 22 years, and finished with a losing record only once. There hasn't been another state championship, but there have been three state semifinals appearances since Stapler rebuilt the program.
Stapler, who retired from coaching for good in 1996, still goes to football games on Friday nights in Brownwood, Sweetwater or Abilene. Last year, he even attended a 50-year reunion of the 1957 Winters team, where Stapler began his coaching career.
"Sometimes when I look back, I think I could have stayed at Conroe or Sweetwater and ended up with a heck of a coaching record," said Stapler, who was 222-86-7 in 27 years in Texas. "You want to win, but the only time your record really matters is when you're updating your resume.
"I got more of a kick out of going into a situation where they said it couldn't be done and doing it."
Mike Lee, a former Standard-Times sports editor, writes a high school football column on Fridays during the season.
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Catching up with coaching legend W.T. Stapler
By MIKE LEE
Friday, September 12, 2008
W.T. Stapler admits to being a sucker for a challenge.
The longtime, now-retired Texas high school football coach shocked the state in 1980 when he left an established program at Conroe, which competed in the largest classification, for Sweetwater, which at the time had averaged two wins per year while struggling to seven consecutive losing seasons.
A one-time assistant at Conroe, Stapler had become its head coach and molded the Tigers into a perennial playoff entry in Class 4A (present-day 5A). He averaged nine wins per season at Conroe, and his .792 winning percentage remains the best in school history. He maintained a streak of winning seasons that eventually reached 26.
"We were going a couple of rounds in the playoffs every year at Conroe," Stapler said. "We were playing playoff games at the Astrodome, Kyle Field and Baylor Stadium. I could have stayed there as long as I wanted."
But having raised their two children, Stapler and his wife, Betty, wanted to move back to their native West Texas. They had been high school sweethearts at Hamlin, located 40 miles northwest of Abilene, in the early 1950s. Stapler tried to get the vacant San Angelo Central head coaching position in 1978 when it went to Jimmie Keeling.
In 1980, the only opening at a larger school in West Texas was at Sweetwater, which had won 14 games in its previous seven seasons and hadn't made the playoffs since 1964.
Stapler traveled to Sweetwater, interviewed for the job and even stayed an extra day to be sure. At age 47, he realized the career risk he was taking, leaving a school with four times the enrollment of Sweetwater.
"People said I was crazy, but there was a commitment there (Sweetwater) that you could just sense," said Stapler, now 75 and living in Abilene. "They'd had a change in the school board, and they were doing a lot of building and improvements to the school.
"Those people wanted to do something. I've been the type that I'll always take a challenge. I like the underdog role."
The first thing Stapler realized was that he couldn't lure veteran assistant coaches to Sweetwater to join its struggling program. So he hired young assistants such as Art Briles, who later won four state championships at Stephenville and now is the head coach at Baylor; Mike Lebby and Blaine Springston, who both became accomplished head coaches at high schools.
"Those young guys came in and worked their tails off," Stapler said. "Being young, they related well to the players, and they were big on weight lifting, which we found out later wasn't happening in a lot of programs in West Texas at the time."
Stapler and his young staff finished 6-4 in their first year in 1980, prompting "Stapler for Mayor" signs to pop up at Sweetwater games. The school stepped up its commitment by spending $500,000 on a new field house and indoor practice facility.
Meanwhile, the charismatic coach encouraged Sweetwater fans to wear red shirts to the games, starting a fashion trend that's still followed today in Sweetwater.
"He was credited for all those red shirts and getting the community behind the team," said Bill Hart, a sportswriter for the Abilene Reporter-News during Stapler's tenure at Sweetwater. "That was a tough nut to crack back then because they'd had a lot of losing."
The initial 6-4 record was followed by finishes of 6-4, 7-3 and 7-2-1. Stapler had Sweetwater winning but not making the playoffs. But late in the 1983 season, the turning point came with a two-point loss to San Angelo Lake View that knocked Sweetwater out of playoff contention.
"It was a heartbreaking loss," Stapler said. "The kids had a chance to, you know, tuck it in, but instead, they went back to work. They were determined to get over the hump."
The two seasons that followed are ones Stapler will never forget. In 1984, Sweetwater ended its 20-year playoff drought, won 12 games and advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals. In 1985, with all-state safety and running back Mike Welch leading the way, the Mustangs went 13-1-1 and beat Tomball to win the 4A state championship.
"It was such a rewarding time to go into that community that wanted to win, but probably didn't have all that much faith," Stapler said. "When we went there, the community was split over whether to build a new courthouse or restore the old one, and they were in the middle of a horrible drought.
"To have a bunch of 16- and 17-year-old kids get the community to get its head up and come alive and become great fans was special. We had great fan followings to our playoff games, and I know we were cutting into their finances to follow us so far. We heard stories of people that hocked and pawned their microwave ovens for gas money."
In only six seasons, Stapler had taken a program known for losing and transformed it into a state champion. It happened so quickly, even he sometimes wondered if it really happened. Then, just as quickly, Stapler was gone.
Other rebuilding challenges lay ahead at Saginaw Boswell, Andrews and Brownwood. Nowadays, Stapler wonders why he ever left Sweetwater.
"I've told so many stories about why I left through the years, that now, I'm not sure what the real reason was," Stapler said.
Some would argue that Stapler never left Sweetwater. Coaches rebuild football programs all the time. Not many do it so well that the program is still reaping the rewards two decades later.
In the 22 seasons since Stapler left, Sweetwater has averaged nine wins per season. The Mustangs have made the playoffs 19 times in the past 22 years, and finished with a losing record only once. There hasn't been another state championship, but there have been three state semifinals appearances since Stapler rebuilt the program.
Stapler, who retired from coaching for good in 1996, still goes to football games on Friday nights in Brownwood, Sweetwater or Abilene. Last year, he even attended a 50-year reunion of the 1957 Winters team, where Stapler began his coaching career.
"Sometimes when I look back, I think I could have stayed at Conroe or Sweetwater and ended up with a heck of a coaching record," said Stapler, who was 222-86-7 in 27 years in Texas. "You want to win, but the only time your record really matters is when you're updating your resume.
"I got more of a kick out of going into a situation where they said it couldn't be done and doing it."
Mike Lee, a former Standard-Times sports editor, writes a high school football column on Fridays during the season.
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