Ennis has found its replacement for legendary football coach Sam Harrell.
Don Drake, who has been the athletic director for Ennis ISD for six years, has been named Ennis’ head football coach the school district announced Tuesday. The athletic director position will be posted and the district is accepting applications.
Before joining Ennis ISD, Drake was the head football coach at McKinney Boyd for 13 years, compiling a record of 68-73 from 2006 to 2018 and making playoff appearances in 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Drake’s 2007 team was 9-4 and reached a 4A Division I regional final, which was the third round of the playoffs at the time.
Drake has also served as the offensive coordinator at McKinney North, The Colony and Louisiana’s Airline High School.
“Coach Drake has done an outstanding job in leading our athletic department over the past six years,” Ennis ISD Superintendent Jay Tullos said in a statement. “As we went through the search process, Coach Drake communicated that he was very passionate about possibly having the opportunity to become the head football coach at Ennis High School. We realized the best individual to continue the success of our football program was Coach Drake. He knows our kids and understands the traditions and high expectations of our football program.”
Harrell retired at the end of this past season after Ennis finished 4-6. He won state titles at Ennis in 2000, 2001 and 2004, had 241 career wins and is a member of the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame and the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor.
Harrell coached at Ennis from 1994 to 2009, then retired from coaching in 2010 because he was battling multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system. He returned as Ennis’ head coach in 2018, but Ennis ISD announced this October that due to a recurrence of his MS and the complications surrounding it that Harrell was once again leaving coaching.
He kept coaching last year even though his legs had lost their strength, forcing him to use a wheelchair, walker or golf cart to get around and leading him to coach from the press box during games. Harrell was Ennis’ head coach for 23 years and won 72% of his games there, amassing a record of 205-79.
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