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Prosper ISD announced in January that Tommy Allison will be Prosper Walnut Grove’s first head football coach as the school opens for the 2023-2024 school year.
After originally scheduled to open in fall 2024, Walnut Grove will open this school year as the newest high school in Prosper ISD. Allison won the Class 1A Division II state title as the head coach at Cayuga in 2009 and led the school to a state runner-up finish in 2008.
He was most recently the offensive coordinator at Waco Midway and has held head coaching jobs at Jacksboro, Robinson and Hallsville.
The new coach spoke with The Dallas Morning News about becoming the first head coach at Walnut Grove.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
How did the opportunity to coach at Walnut Grove come about?
Tommy Allison: “As soon as the job came open I knew Walnut Grove High School had potential to be just a great high school. Prosper ISD has such a great reputation in the state of Texas, and to have the opportunity to possibly lead the program here at high school in Prosper, it was just definitely something worth looking at. And I just feel very fortunate to have this opportunity to help open the school.”
What goes into the early stages of building a program?
Allison: “I think the most important thing is just to instill a culture of what you want your program to be identified as and there’s such high expectations here at Prosper ISD. The leadership here is second to none, from the superintendent to the athletic director, to the high school principal. there’s just a standard of excellence. And so from day one, that’s what we work to instill, we want to be the standard in everything we do.”
What have the first few months looked like since you got the job?
Allison: “I started January the 20th and priority one was getting a staff hired, not only a football staff, but you’ve got every sport whether it’s wrestling or softball, volleyball, so priority one is getting your staff hired. So that was a big part of it. Just working with our athletic director and campus principal, to get our staff hired along the way of spending time with the kids that had already made the decision to go to Walnut Grove High School.”
How much have you been able to work with the players and what has that looked like?
Allison: “It’s been incredible. The response of our coaches and our kids trying to build something special has been overwhelming. You know, from day one, the kids have done the work every day. It’s been really cool. Prosper, and especially Walnut Grove, is going to be a special place.”
Walnut Grove is playing an outlaw schedule this season, how will that work?
Allison: “In Texas, the UIL, every two years, assigns teams to districts according to the size of the school and Walnut Grove opening a year earlier than expected, this is in the middle of that two-year cycle. So football wise, the school wasn’t able to get into a football district. So our administrative team had to just find 10 varsity football games for these guys to play this year. And the schedule they put together is unbelievable.
“First game right off the bat to play the state champion out of Arkansas. Our administration has given these kids just a great opportunity to go and compete. The leadership here is just different. It’s special.”
On Twitter: @peter_rauterkus
Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
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