Coach | Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame

Patterson, Jack

May 10, 2022 | Coach, Legends, Track & Field

JACK PATTERSON is one of two posthumous recipients of this year’s Bill Hart Memorial Legends Award. He won an individual Southwest Conference championship at Rice University in 1939. After coaching at Merkel and San Angelo, Patterson became the first track and field...

Gilreath, Kathryn

May 9, 2022 | Athlete, Coach, Tennis

KATHRYN GILREATH helped Cooper High School to a 3-year record of 57-0 and three consecutive 5A team tennis state championships. She played No.1 singles all four years. In the spring of 1993, she was a state quarterfinalist in doubles, a state semifinalist in doubles...

Richey, Trey

May 9, 2022 | Athlete, Coach, Football

TREY RICHEY is the only person to win a six-man football state championship as both a player and a coach. He was the star running back and safety at Jayton HS where the Jaybirds went undefeated and won back-to-back state six-man football championships in 1984 and...

Green, Merrill

May 9, 2022 | Coach, Football

MERRILL GREEN was a star running back and punt returner at the University of Oklahoma in the early 1950s under coach Bud Wilkinson. He coached in college at Texas Tech and Arkansas before becoming the head coach at Abilene Cooper in 1965. He led the Cougars to...

Underwood, C.H.

Jul 22, 2021 | Coach, Football

C.H. Underwood played six-man football at O’Brien and then returned to coach at O’Brien, where his team won the 1972 state championship, the first year that the UIL crowned a state champion in six-man football. He is the author of...

Warren, Steve

Jun 20, 2019 | Coach, Football

Steve Warren led Abilene High to the Class 5A Division II 2009 state football championship. He compiled a record of 175-68 in 19 seasons at AHS from 1996-2014 as the school’s all-time leader in wins. His career coaching record is 190-82, which included stints at Wall...