WOLFFORTH — Jason Richards’ longtime goal is about to be fulfilled.
Richards, who spent the past five seasons at Muleshoe, will be the first head football coach for Frenship Memorial High School, which is set to open in the fall. The hire will become official after school-board approval Wednesday.
The Clovis, N.M., native said developing a program from scratch is a dream come true.
“It’s kind of always been a dream of mine to start my own program,” Richards said. “The culture’s yours, what you hang your hat on as far as your sayings. Creating a culture of toughness and competitiveness is just very appealing to me.”
Richards said the backing of Frenship ISD is a major perk. He said the Tigers have “had success forever” in both extracurriculars and academics.
The district’s standing attracted a number of candidates, FISD athletic director Bryan Gerlich said. Richards stood out from them all.
“We were really fortunate,” Gerlich said. “We had a huge pool of really qualified people, and as we started going through the process, there’s just something about him that’s infectious. His energy, his enthusiasm. Regardless that he’s a great football coach, he’s a great person. We felt like he was the right guy to get Memorial off to a good start.”
Richards, who will be Memorial’s boys athletic coordinator, got his first position of head football coach and athletic director at Muleshoe. The Mules were 2-18 the two seasons leading into Richards’ arrival, including a winless campaign before he started in 2020. Richards was 31-25 at Muleshoe and won playoff games in three consecutive seasons before last fall.
Richards said the experience taught him lessons he’ll carry into his next role.
“Always build relationships with kids,” Richards said, “and I’m not just talking about athletes. I want to build relationships with all the entire campus. I think we hired really good coaches (at Muleshoe) and let them do their jobs.”
With Richards in place, Gerlich said the next objective is to hire Memorial’s girls athletic coordinator. Sports other than football will be in UIL districts from the beginning, when the school starts with freshman and sophomore students. The Panthers’ classification is to be determined.
The football program will play an outlaw schedule of subvarsity teams or possibly small-school varsity squads. Finalizing a schedule is among the first priorities for Richards.
“Immediately I want to get out and meet the kids,” Richards said, “and the staff, and pour into this community, be seen. Creating community within the school is huge to me.”
