At the beginning of last month, Azle got a new head football Coach, Wilson Rigg, after coach Devin Dorris left at the end of last semester. Rigg is planning on building the program up and creating a winning team for next season by using strategies to start up practice early for 7 on 7 and improving the program academically.

“I’ve always been to schools that have good coaching staff and good high-level championship football with their programs, so I’m excited to see the growth with this football team,” Rigg said.

Not only is a new head coach important to the team, but also the admin. They emphasized the importance of finding a coach who leads both on and off the field.

“When we were looking for a new head coach, we weren’t just looking for a playbook. We were looking for a leader of men,” Principal Nate Driver. “Coach Rigg stands out because he sees the football field as an extension of the classroom. I’m excited because I know our student-athletes are going to graduate not just as better players but as better individuals because of his influence.”

After all the years of coaching football, Rigg has had a long history at a number of schools.

“I did one year at Augustana College, two years at Midland Lee High School, three years at Lubbock Coronado High School and then I’ve been at Anna High School for five years,” Rigg said.

Rigg said the Azle community was the best pick for him for a variety of reasons.

“A lot of people that were familiar with the community, everyone said how great the community was and how supportive everyone was,” Rigg said. “I thought within the job, the kids and everything were just a great thing for me and my family, which was great for me because it checked a lot of the boxes that I wanted from the place.”

Training Rigg begins in the off-season by getting the chance to know the student athletes and their training.

“[For the] off-season program plan, we’re in the lifting and conditioning portion of the program, and then we’ll do spring ball starting the middle of April,” Rigg said. We’ll have four weeks of practice, we’ll have position meetings, we’re going to prepare for spring ball, so that the middle of April until the end of school, we’ll do full-fledged football practices.”

Rigg said that before anything, athletes are students and have to take care of business in class.

“We follow an academic [plan] that we follow especially during the season,” Rigg said. ”Three weeks, we set out a time for our guys to go and get tutorials. We target C-guys that are in a red zone. So anything under a 75 where they’re close to possibly failing, we kind of see those guys and make sure they’re getting the necessary support in class time that they need in order to stay on the field. It’s just one piece of being a student athlete.”

Rigg has started off by already making impacts for these football players, putting part in what it means to be a good coach.

“I like Coach Rigg because he is very kind but also a great coach and leader,” sophomore and varsity kicker Ben Harder said. “He makes me want to be better and both motivates and encourages me to do things that are hard.”