Football is different at Gainesville State School

By DAVID THOMAS

dthomas@star-telegram.com

GAINESVILLE — Walt Scott is in his fourth year at Gainesville State School. This is his first season as head coach.

"It has been probably one of the most challenging and interesting things that I have done," said Scott, who has coached football 36 years in Texas.

This is a job, the 59-year-old says, that he could not have held as a young coach, when he was headstrong and prideful.

Ego, says first-year assistant coach Rick Smith, does not serve a coach well inside the maximum-security correctional facility.

"If you think you’re going to get your ego stroked by coming here," said Smith, who has head coaching experience in a variety of sports, "you’re at the wrong place."

The Gainesville State Tornadoes wrap up their season Friday night when they play at Grapevine Faith. With a 1-7 record, this will be another losing season. The Tornadoes have not had a winning season since 1994, when they finished 5-4 in the program’s second year.

Football, like just about everything else, is different at Gainesville State.

A year ago this week, the game in which Faith Lions fans treated the Tornadoes as though they were the home team began introducing people all across the nation to Gainesville State football.

Because the school is different. It is a prison. Because the students are different. They are convicted criminals, ages 12-19.

And that makes football at Gainesville State different.

Competitive challenges

For their next realignment, TAPPS officials have dropped Gainesville State from Division I — for TAPPS’ largest schools — into Division III. The move has been widely praised for addressing an overwhelming numbers disadvantage.

The Tornadoes had 14 players for their game last Friday night against Addison Trinity Christian. The undefeated Trojans typically suit up about 55 players and had 70 for that game. Only two players start on both offense and defense.

"I’ll tell you the truth — it’s hard," quarterback/defensive back T. Wesley said. (School officials do not release players’ full names for confidentiality purposes.)

Although Gainesville State’s population is about 275, only a small number of those are allowed to participate in football. And even fewer are eligible to leave campus for games.

To earn off-campus privileges, a student must have served half of his sentence, maintain satisfactory grades and meet stringent behavior requirements.

Not only do Tornadoes coaches have a small number of players to work with, but the roster also constantly turns over.

Ask Scott during the middle of the week how many players he will have for that Friday’s game and he will say it is too early to ask.

Even on Friday afternoons, he can’t be sure. Once this season, Scott had a player pulled off the team bus at the facility’s double gate because he had been involved in a dorm incident an hour earlier.

There is one category of in-season player losses, however, that coaches boast about: players who leave because their sentences have ended.

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