Former Grapevine football coach heading to North Forney

Randy Jackson’s sudden departure from the Grapevine football team could be interpreted in a variety of ways. Maybe it really doesn’t matter.

But his move to North Forney reminds all of us that coaching is and forever shall be a transient industry. Coaches are hired to be fired or to look for the next best opportunity.

Some are geared to stay in one location forever. That’s pretty rare at this time. You have to look at Corpus Christi Calallen’s Phil Dannaher for that type.

Some are just wired to move to one location, rebuild it from the ground up and get it going in the right direction before they move on. That’s what Jackson is.

He is on his fourth head coach position in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in this decade. That also includes Mesquite Poteet and Plano East. That’s not a knock. That’s just who he is. Jackson is a builder of programs. He wants to leave them better than how he found them.

The comfort zone Grapevine fans had had with him indicated he was happy, had a good thing going and was ready to sustain what had been built. But for Jackson, there has always been the urge to find the next challenge.

It’s not that he conquered the Grapevine challenge. Sometimes, you just want to see what else is out there and determine if your philosophy and style can work in another place. That’s what North Forney offered.

In the three years Jackson spent in Northeast Tarrant County, he did exactly what he was brought to Grapevine to do: fix it!

The Mustangs were a program in a black hole. There had been four wins between 2012-2013. Jackson understood some intriguing and talented players coming through the feeder programs could turn it. However, that didn’t mean success.

But there was. Grapevine went 21-11 and made the postseason all three seasons, the second-best playoff run since Mike Sneed and Gary Mullins led the program to seven consecutive appearances from 1995-2001. Jackson also beat rival Colleyville Heritage in 2016. That had not happened since 2009. Jackson shared the 2016 District 8-5A championship with the Panthers and Richland.

A lot of boxes have been checked on this list.

The district is moving forward. Maybe it will turn to defensive coordinator Mike Alexander, who has been named as the interim head coach. Maybe the district will go outside again.

It’s a similar situation that Colleyville Heritage was in during the 2015 offseason. Darren Allman had left to take the athletic director’s position at Carroll. Judd Thrash was named interim head coach. He wanted the position. But the district found Joe Willis at Cedar Park.

District athletic director Bryan Gerlich said the job has only just been posted. There is no application deadline. Sometimes, that doesn’t mean anything if an AD has a candidate he covets. For now, the district has crafted a profile that the community would like to see in this new coach. Gerlich wants to have a successor named before the district goes on spring break (March 13).

All ADs in this state are defined by the hires they make for head football coaches. Gerlich is 1-for-1 at Colleyville Heritage. Now, he needs to go 2-for-2 at Grapevine.

Update

Construction on the new Multipurpose Activities Centers at both Colleyville Heritage and Grapevine have been delayed. Gerlich said some construction cost concerns developed. There’s hope that ground will be broken by either late February or early March. That also means the time of their completion is also delayed. Instead of anticipated timeframe of January, everything points to the spring of 2018.

This story was originally published February 13, 2017 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Former Grapevine football coach heading to North Forney."