Grand Prairie football head coach, former TCU assistant Tony Tademy dies at 65
Grand Prairie head football coach and athletic coordinator Tony Tademy died on Monday, Jan. 6, according to the Dallas Morning News. He was 65.
Tademy, a former assistant coach at TCU, was a linebackers coach under Gary Patterson. He was part of the 2010 team that went undefeated (13-0) and won the Rose Bowl, and he spent seven years with the Frogs.
Tademy coached Tank Carder, who was a fifth-round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2012, and he also was the Rose Bowl MVP in 2010.
“Prayers up for one of my favorite coaches to compete against,” wrote Arlington Lamar head coach Billy Skinner on X. “First class all the time. Prayers to Coach T’s family and the GP community.”
Before his time with TCU, he served as a defensive coordinator at McKinney High School. Tademy’s first assistant coaching stint came at Virginia Military Institute and lasted from 1985 to 1986.
In 2014, he started the Katy Tompkins football program. Following a stint as an assistant coach at Henderson State, Tademy became Grand Prairie’s coach in 2018.
In the 2024 football season, the Gophers had a 1-9 record. His best season came in 2021, when Grand Prairie won seven games and went 5-1 in district play.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana Tech, where he led the Bulldogs to two Independence Bowl appearances as a linebacker.
Tademy also had coaching stints at Duncanville, Howard, Blinn College, Mississippi, Houston, Louisiana-Lafayette, Northeast Louisiana University, Suitland High School in Maryland and Texas City, where he won a state title as an assistant in 1997.
“Sad loss for THSFB Coaches…,” wrote Crowley head coach Carlos Lynn on X. “Condolences to his family and Grand Prairie ISD…”
Arlington Bowie head coach Joseph Sam wrote on X that he appreciated the times Tademy provided him with wisdom.
“Prayers go out to his family and the Gopher football community,” Sam wrote.
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