By Kevin Lonnquist
NTX Varsity Sports Columnist
Typically, the high school coaching carousel is somewhat docile when the calendar reaches May.
Usually, most moves are in baseball and softball. That makes sense. Those seasons just finished. The basketball movement finishes in April. Football? Well, that’s normally a December-January thing.
Not this spring.
This past week, the NTX Varsity Sports coverage area was rocked by two major moves.
Move No. 1 – On Monday, Glen Rose head football coach and athletic director Cliff Watkins became the new head coach and AD at Decatur.
Move No. 2 – Bo Rickner left his post as Paradise boys basketball coach to become to new head boys basketball coach at Graford.
Let’s examine each.
Watkins to Decatur
Background: This job opened in late April. It was a stunning move when Steve Huff left to take a similar position in Chickasaw, OK.
Analysis: As a whole, Decatur athletics is one of the most well rounded in the 4A area. It’s won state championships in girls basketball and volleyball. Each team sport advances to the playoffs and is nearly certain to at least plays in to the area round if not the regional semifinal round.
Football has had its great moments. It went to the 4A Division I state semifinals in 2022 and 2023.
Decatur is one of the largest 4A schools in the state. The district submitted an enrollment of 1,147 students.
While it’s in Wise County, Decatur has essentially become a bedroom community of Northern Tarrant County for commuting into Fort Worth. The growth push continues to move in that direction. It may not be too long before Decatur becomes a 5A school.
A bigger school means larger participation numbers, better athletes and the reduced chance of seeing a decline in the program.
This program has always had a tradition of going to the playoffs. It’s made the playoffs for 13 consecutive seasons.
Why Watkins moved: Glen Rose is one of the smaller Class 4A schools out there with 613 students. Decatur has 400-plus more students. That makes it attractive.
Watkins probably wasn’t looking to leave until this job opened. When it did, he took his shot. This is a profession where the best and brightest want to move up to the next level. Whether or not Watkins believed he had taken Glen Rose as far as he believe he could is something we’ll never know. But 2016-2025 was easily the best 10-year run in Glen Rose history. Glen Rose has posted only nine double-digit winning seasons. Watkins has five of them.
Watkins is a great offensive mind. As good as his passing game was in the early part of this decade, he pivoted with a young quarterback in 2025 to a balanced attack. Glen Rose took its hits and began 0-5. But it rallied in the second half of the year to win another district championship and make it to the area round. It was probably Watkins’ best coaching year.
Plus, Watkins has overseen a Glen Rose athletics program that has experienced success in all of its team sports. They make the playoffs. He understands the value of success in the fall, winter and the spring. Hence, Decatur’s attraction toward him.
It will be a busy summer. However, this should not take long for Watkins to get a feel for things.
Rickner to Graford
Background: This job opened recently when 44-year coaching veteran Jeff Bell announced his retirement. He led Graford to consecutive state titles in 2022 and 2023.
Analysis: If you understand anything about small-town high school basketball, communities live and die with their teams. It’s reminiscent of the 1986 movie Hoosiers where the town followed the Hickory Huskers all the way to the 1951 Indiana state championship. A trail of car headlights followed the team but to each game.
Graford doesn’t play football. It’s a Class 1A program. A town of about 670 people located 15 miles north of Mineral Wells. Basketball shapes the town conversations for all 365 days.
Before Bell’s arrival, this program was already steep in tradition. Prior to 2022 and 2023, it had played for a state title or appeared in seven other state semifinals going back to 1964-65.
Why Rickner moved: Like Watkins, Rickner wasn’t looking to leave Paradise. He built a powerhouse. This program was coming off the thrilling 2025-26 Class 3A Division II state title. That followed playing in the 2024-2025 state championship. Rickner was 117-34 in four seasons.
Plus, Paradise hs become its own small-town athletics power in all sports. Basketball was supported.
But when a school district official from a very successful program calls to gage interest because they know how successful you have been, you at least pick up the phone and listen. Success draws suitors.
While Graford is a smaller classification than Paradise, sometimes that doesn’t matter. Your sport is the alpha in town.
Now, the storyline for Rickner to navigate is following a legend like Bell. There is the theory in the coaching industry that when a coach comes to a tradition-rich situation, he wants to be the guy that followed that guy that followed the legend. That’s not what is happening at Graford.
However, Rickner has learned enough in other coaching stops as an assistant that he will never pretend to know everything. However, his resume gives him a lot of leeway to use in the next one or two seasons as he guides the Jack Rabbits into his image.
