Texas High football fans should mark May 16 on their calendars.
That's when Tiger boosters, supporters and rivals will be clued in on what THS and new head coach Gerry Stanford and his staff have planned for the fall of 2017.
Stanford has scheduled his first annual Orange-White scrimmage at Tiger Stadium in Grim Park that night, bringing to an end Texas High's spring work.
"Things are going the way we want it to be going right now," said Stanford, who came to THS from Flower Mound Marcus after veteran Barry Norton took Arkansas High's job. "So far we've made the most of the time we've had, and the coaches and kids are doing a great job.
"The kids are doing a great job of showing up when they're supposed to. Just being on time and being tentative to detail to what we're doing. I've been real pleased with the depth we're developing."
Norton took several assistants with him across the border, while others have found new jobs at other schools.
Former Lewisville, Texas, head coach Greg Miller is Stanford's new defensive coordinator. Miller was also defensive coordinator at Katy High School prior to Lewisville.
Mike Ludlow comes to THS from Marshall, where he was the offensive coordinator. Ludlow and A.J. Wilson will be in charge of the Tigers' offense. Wilson moves to Texarkana from Houston Cy-Ridge.
"The staff and kids are coming together; we have some experienced coaches who are used to making deep playoff runs," Stanford said. "I'm worked with these guys in the past and have a close association with them. It'll be June before the entire coaching staff will be here."
Stanford is finally getting a look at his complete team with the track and baseball seasons coming to an end.
"We love kids that play in other sports," he said. "It's always a benefit when they go out and they're competing. We want our kids to compete. Track had a great season with a district championship, and our baseball team did a great job all season."
Texas High players have been learning on and off the field.
"Football is football, and the kids are doing a good job of adapting," Stanford said. "You've got to block and tackle to win ball games. That is the bottom line. We're trying to fit kids into the best possible positions to give us opportunities to win games. I think our coaches are doing a great job of getting kids in the right spots.
"I think we'll match up well with people this fall. It will all come down to what kind of effort we want to give every Friday night. We've got to give maximum effort to give us a chance of winning."
Prior to Marcus, Stanford was head coach at White Oak. He noted each of his teams have provided different skill sets.
"Right now we're developing a lot of depth at our wide receiver and running back positions," he said. "We've got 22 guys who can play football. They can get to the football and be violent at the point of attack. We've got some depth coming and speed is a factor. You want to play fast, regardless of the speed that you have. Our skill set gives us that opportunity."
Texas High is expected to operate out of multiple offenses this coming season. Stanford indicated he hopes to run 50 percent of the time, and pass 50 percent of the time.
"We want to stretch the field at four different levels from horizontal to vertical," Stanford said. "We'll take what the defense gives us and go from there."
It appears junior Coltin Clack has won the starting job at quarterback. He is being backed up by Kendall Reid. Riley Russell is also working at quarterback this spring, but is expected to start at tight end.
"Coltin has done a very good job all spring, and Kendall has been very good as the backup," Stanford said.
The Tigers will not be as big up front, but that doesn't appear to concern Stanford.
"The offensive and defensive lines are relative to the technique you play," he said. "You put the best eleven on the field and adapt the schemes to the guys that you have that give us the best opportunities to win football games. Right now we're doing a great job of coming together up front on both sides of the ball. We must continue to work in that direction."
Stanford knows what Norton's teams accomplished the past 18 years, and expects that tradition to be a plus in the Tigers' transformation.
"You want to get in the playoffs and maximize the time you're in the playoffs," he said. "Our biggest concern is not the playoffs, wins or loses right now. Our biggest concern is what kind of effort are we going to get. We don't worry about scoreboards. That takes care of itself. If we go out and give our best effort it will give us our best chance to win."
Stanford is hoping for a big crowd May 16, advertising the fact a Powder-puff game will precede the Orange-White contest.