A history of Texas Longhorns who won high school football state championships

The 2022 Texas high school football season ended with the staging of the University Interscholastic League (UIL) state championship games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington the week of December 14-17. During that week, five Texas Longhorn commits helped their teams win state titles. Three Texas signees from out-of-state also finished the 2022 season as state champions. Those eight put their names on a very long list of historic Longhorns who won state championships during their high school careers. The full list (or as close to a full one as you’re likely to find) can be found a bit later in this post, but before getting to that a brief history of Texas high school football and its state championship games is required.

Most of Texas’s major colleges and universities fielded their first football teams in the mid- to late-1890s. The first varsity football team at the University of Texas was organized in 1893, and since there were not yet a lot of nearby colleges with teams to schedule games against, UT played most of its earliest football games against squads from big city athletic clubs and town teams. One of Texas’s games in the 1894 season was played against a San Antonio team whose roster was reportedly composed of players from San Antonio High School, the San Antonio Academy, the West Texas Military Academy, and the Mission Athletic Club. At around this same time, football teams were first organized at high schools in some of the state’s largest cities, and games were played between opposing high school teams at least as early as 1894. Houston High School and Galveston’s Ball High School scheduled a game in the final week of December of that year.

By the beginning of the 20th century, football teams had been fielded by public and prep schools in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and in nearby towns of significant size, but it took longer for the sport to reach a lot of smaller towns, especially those which were far from major population centers of that time. Lubbock High School, for instance, did not have its first football team until 1910. Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas today, but in 1910 it had less than 2,000 residents. Lubbock High’s first three football teams were coached by John Edgar Vickers, a young lawyer who had played center on the 1907 Texas Longhorn football team. Vickers had moved to Lubbock in 1909 after graduating from UT, and he would have a long career as a lawyer and judge in that city and lived long enough to see Lubbock win three state titles in football between 1939 and 1952. After Vickers died in 1963, the obituary for him that was published in the Texas Bar Journal stated that the first football team he coached at Lubbock High had “only one player who had even seen a football before.”

Interscholastic football competition became common in the early decades of the 1900s as more high schools and prep schools began fielding teams in the sport. By 1920, there were 239 high school football teams in Texas. Some teams were informally recognized as state champions during the decade of the 1910s by virtue of beating top contenders from other sections of the state (such as Austin High School defeating Fort Worth North Side in an unofficial “state championship” in 1914), but it was not until the 1920 football season that the Texas Interscholastic League officially recognized a state champion in that sport for the first time.

North Texas champion Cleburne High School and South Texas champion Heights High School of Houston played to a scoreless tie on a rainy day in that 1920 state championship game, and were thereafter deemed co-champions. From 1920 through 1947 there was only one state championship game played every season, and four of them resulted in ties. In 1948, schools in the state were split for the first time into the classifications 1A and 2A, and that year also saw the introduction of the short-lived City Conference. The schools that played in the three City Conference championship games from 1948 to 1950 were from Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio.

The City Conference was scrapped after 1950, and in 1951 came a new system of classification levels ranging from 1A to 4A, with state championships being held for each of those four levels. Schools too small for the 1A level played at Class B, and for many years the playoffs for that level only went as far as the regional round until the first Class B state championship was held in 1972. The first Six-Man state final was also held in 1972, and Eight-Man football was briefly played and had Texas state champions crowned from 1972 until 1975.

Class 4A was renamed Class 5A starting in 1980, and all of the other classifications increased by one number as well, with the former Class B becoming 1A. That 5A through 1A numbering system remained in place until the 2014 season, in which 5A, the classification with the largest schools, was renamed 6A, the Six-Man leagues became the new 1A, and 2A became the smallest level for standard 11-man football.

Another change occurred in 1990, when Class 5A, then the highest classification, began awarding separate state titles for Division I (ostensibly the “large school” division) and Division II. Class 4A also awarded Division I and II state championships starting in 1996, and by 1998 all of the other classes down to 2A did the same. The 1A and Six-Man levels continued to have just one state champion each until 2006, when they too went to split divisions.

As recently as 1989, only six teams in any given season could claim to be Texas state champions. Twelve state champions have been crowned in every high school football season since 2006. Some might see this as a glut, or over-inflation of championship trophies being handed out compared with past generations, but it should be noted that the state of Texas today has a population roughly 76% higher than at the time of the 1990 census, and consequently it now has a lot more high schools and high school student-athletes than it did in the last year that only six state championships were awarded in football.

And even with the higher number of state titles available each season compared with three decades ago, to win one a team has to top a very large pool of contenders. For the current 11-man levels, a state championship team in Texas must be the best out of as few as 93 schools (4A Division II) or as many as 132 (5A Division I), which is more competition than state champions in other states have to overcome. Arizona’s top three levels (Conferences 6A through 4A) include 123 schools combined. The largest number of schools in any one of Florida’s current classifications is 69. None of Louisiana’s public school divisions for football have more than 43 schools. Oklahoma’s top four classifications for football (6A through 3A) have 32 schools each.

The University of Texas has a long history of recruiting athletes from powerhouse high school football programs in the state. One would be hard-pressed to write a history of high school football in Texas without future Longhorns being prominently involved at many points. There were future Longhorns who played for Waco’s championship teams in the 1920s, Amarillo’s three straight championship teams during the 1930s, Abilene’s three-peat teams of the mid-1950s, teams from Midland Lee, Southlake Carroll, Carthage, Daingerfield, Aledo, and Austin Westlake that had three-year championship runs more recently, and many other notable teams over the past century.

In every season since 1996 at least one Texas state champion team has had a future Longhorn on its roster. That streak began after a six-season stretch where no state champion teams included a future Longhorn from 1990 to 1995. Aside from that stretch and another one that lasted from 1928 to 1933, there has been no other period between 1920 and the present day in which more than two seasons passed without a future Longhorn being part of a state championship team.

I have compiled a list of Texas Longhorn football players who played for Texas state championship teams while in high school, beginning with Clarence “Blue” Smith, the star halfback of Cleburne’s 1920 co-championship team. Below are each of the players and teams that have made my list, and the classifications in which they won their state titles. Please let me know if you see any omissions. Players with an asterisk on their name are current or former UT roster members who were scholarship players but are not recognized lettermen, and the most recent ones whose names are in italics are 2023 signees or 2024 commits who have yet to suit up for their first college game.

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Texas Longhorns who played for Texas U.I.L. state championship football teams

1920: Clarence “Blue” Smith (Cleburne)

Note: Cleburne tied Houston Heights 0-0 in the championship game, and the two schools were named co-champions.

1922: John “Pottie” McCullough (Waco)

1925: Claude Meadows (Waco)

1926: Claude Meadows (Waco)

1927: Sears Earle (Waco)

1934: John Patterson (Amarillo)

1935: James “Red” Goodwin and Don Williams (Amarillo)

1936: John Gill, Bill Kilman, Vernon Martin, Mike Sweeney and Don Williams (Amarillo)

Note: Eight of the eleven starters on Amarillo’s 1936 team went to UT, along with their head coach Blair Cherry, who was hired as a Longhorn assistant coach in 1937. But of the eight, only five saw the field at Texas enough to win letters.

1937: Chal Daniel and Don Fambrough (Longview)

1938: Ken Matthews (Corpus Christi)

1939: Franklin Butler (Lubbock)

1942: Jim Canady, Frank Gerling, Bobby Coy Lee, George McCall, and Joe Billy Baumgardner (Austin)

1943: Sam Callan, George Graham, and Joel Williams (San Angelo)

1946: Byron Townsend (Odessa)

1948: Bill Georges (Fort Worth Arlington Heights, City Conference)

1949: Malcolm Kitchens, Billy Quinn, and Pat Tolar (San Antonio Jefferson, City Conference)

1950: Fred Skidmore (Dallas Sunset, City Conference)

1951: Charles Brewer, Don Jones, Dickey Lowrey, Bo Sexton, Johnny Tatum, and Jimmy Welch (Lubbock, 4A)

1952: Dickey Lowrey and Jimmy Welch (Lubbock, 4A)

1953: Walter Fondren, Mickey Smith, and Don Wilson (Houston Lamar, 4A)
Joe Clements (Huntsville, 2A)

1954: Stuart Peake (Abilene, 4A)

1955: Stuart Peake and Jim Rose (Abilene, 4A)

1956: Stuart Peake and Jim Rose (Abilene, 4A)

1957: Jack Collins and John Seals (Highland Park, 4A)

1958: Johnny Genung (Wichita Falls, 4A)
Bobby Gamblin (Stamford, 2A)

1959: Jim Besselman and Ben House (Corpus Christi Ray, 4A)
David McWilliams and Tim Doerr (Cleburne, 3A co-champion)
Bobby Gamblin (Stamford, 2A — forfeited)
Scott Appleton (Brady, 2A — awarded title after Stamford forfeit)

Note: Cleburne and Breckenridge tied 20-20 in the Class 3A state final and were named co-champions. Stamford beat Brady 19-14 in the 2A state championship, but Stamford was stripped of its title five months later after an investigation found that local boosters had paid for the housing and meals of its all-state center, who had remained in Stamford and lived at the local fire station during his senior year after his parents had moved some 140 miles away to Floydada the previous spring.

1961: Kelly Baker (Dumas, 3A)
Fred Edwards (Donna, 2A)

1962: Kelly Baker (Dumas, 3A)
Robert Leach (Jacksboro, 2A)

1964: Bill Bradley (Palestine, 3A)

1965: Glen Halsell and Billy Dale (Odessa Permian, 4A)
Johnny Robinson (Plano, 2A)

1966: Terry Collins and Randy Stout (San Angelo Central, 4A)
Steve Worster (Bridge City, 3A)

1967: Mike Bayer, Ray Dowdy, Donald Ealey, and Howard Shaw (Austin Reagan, 4A)

1968: Mike Bayer, Donald Ealey, and Howard Shaw (Austin Reagan, 4A)

1969: Joey Aboussie (Wichita Falls, 4A)

1970: Tommy Keel, Larry Miller, David Nelson, and Billy Schott (Austin Reagan, 4A)

1971: Alan Lenz (San Antonio Lee, 4A)

1972: Joe Bob Bizzell (Odessa Permian, 4A)
Randy Gerdes (Uvalde, 3A)

1973: Earl Campbell, Steve Campbell, and Tim Campbell (Tyler John Tyler, 4A)

1975: Johnnie Johnson and Bert Vasut (La Grange, 2A)

1976: Vance Bedford and Maurice McCloney (Beaumont Hebert, 3A)

Note: Beaumont Hebert’s 1976 team was the first from a predominantly black high school to win a U.I.L. state championship in football. Hebert later merged with Forest Park High School in 1982 to form West Brook High School.

1977: Donnie Little (Dickinson, 3A)

1978: Mark Gabrisch (Houston Stratford, 4A)

1979: Bret Stafford (Temple, 4A)

1980: Jerome Johnson (Pilot Point, 2A co-champion)

Note: Pilot Point tied Tidehaven 0-0 in the 2A state final, and the two schools were named co-champions.

1982: James Lott (Refugio, 3A)

1985: Greg Eaglin (Houston Yates, 5A)

1986: Kevin Smith (Jefferson, 3A)

1988: Robert Reed (Converse Judson, 5A — awarded title after Dallas Carter was stripped of the championship)

Note: Dallas Carter beat Converse Judson 31-14 in the Class 5A state championship, but it was stripped of that state title in January of 1991 after an investigation found that Carter had violated the state’s “No pass, no play” policy when a star running back had been allowed to play despite failing an Algebra class, and Judson was retroactively awarded the 1988 state title for Class 5A. Carter’s legendary 1988 season and its aftermath was the subject of the 2017 ESPN 30 For 30 documentary What Carter Lost.

1989: Josh Sumner (Odessa Permian, 5A)

1996: Adam Hall* and Brett Robin (Austin Westlake, 5A Div. II)

1997: Jermain Anderson, Ervis Hill, Tyrone Jones, and Everick Rawls (Texas City, 4A Div. I)

1998: Cedric Benson (Midland Lee, 5A Div. II)
Kendal Briles (Stephenville, 4A Div. II)

1999: Cedric Benson (Midland Lee, 5A Div. I)
Richmond McGee (Garland, 5A Div. II)
Kendal Briles (Stephenville, 4A Div. II)
Quan Cosby (Mart, 2A Div. I)

2000: Cedric Benson (Midland Lee, 5A Div. I)

2001: Marco Martin* (Mesquite, 5A Div. I)

2002: Adam Ulatoski (Southlake Carroll, 5A Div. II)
Christopher Brown and Nate Jones (Texarkana Texas, 4A Div. I)
Derek Lokey and Ishie Oduegwu (Denton Ryan, 4A Div. II)
Eric Foreman (Corrigan-Camden, 2A Div. I)

2003: Chykie Brown (Galena Park North Shore, 5A Div. I)
Rashad Bobino (La Marque, 4A Div. II)

2004: Tre Newton (Southlake Carroll, 5A Div. II)
Michael Huey, Eddie Jones,and Britt Mitchell (Kilgore, 4A Div. II)
Curtis Brown and David Snow (Gilmer, 3A Div. II)

2005: Tre Newton (Southlake Carroll, 5A Div. II)
Buck Burnette (Wimberley, 3A Div. I)
Chris Torbert (Celina, 2A Div. II)

2006: Tre Newton (Southlake Carroll, 5A Div. I)
Thomas Ashcraft and Jarvis Humphrey* (Cedar Hill, 5A Div. II)
Aundre McGaskey (La Marque, 4A Div. II)

2007: Eryon Barnett (Euless Trinity, 5A Div. I)
Garrett Gilbert, Paden Kelly, and Cade McCrary (Lake Travis, 4A Div. II)

2008: Garrett Gilbert, Paden Kelly, and Cade McCrary (Lake Travis, 4A Div. I)
Bryant Jackson (Sulphur Springs, 4A Div. II)
Kendall Thompson (Carthage, 3A Div. II)
Steve Edmond and Chris Jones* (Daingerfield, 2A Div. II)

2009: Taylor Doyle (Lake Travis, 4A Div. I)
Johnathan Gray (Aledo, 4A Div. II)
Kendall Thompson (Carthage, 3A Div. II)
Steve Edmond and Chris Jones* (Daingerfield, 2A Div. II)
Traylon Shead* (Cayuga, 1A Div. II)

2010: Malcolm Brown and Erik Huhn* (Cibolo Steele, 5A Div. II)
Taylor Doyle (Lake Travis, 4A Div. I)
Johnathan Gray (Aledo, 4A Div. II)
Kendall Thompson (Carthage, 3A Div. II)
Steve Edmond (Daingerfield, 2A Div. I)

2011: Johnathan Gray (Aledo, 4A Div. II)

2012: Kyle Porter (Katy, 5A Div. II)
Jerrod Heard (Denton Guyer, 4A Div. I)

2013: Jerrod Heard (Denton Guyer, 4A Div. I)
Ryan Newsome (Aledo, 4A Div. II)

2014: Ryan Newsome (Aledo, 5A Div. I)
Kris Boyd and Demarco Boyd (Gilmer, 4A Div. II)

2015: Kyle Porter (Katy, 6A Div. II)

2016: Cade Brewer and Cameron Dicker (Lake Travis, 6A Div. I)
Keaontay Ingram (Carthage, 4A Div. I)

2017: Prince Dorbah (Highland Park, 5A Div. I)
Keaontay Ingram (Carthage, 4A Div. I)

2018: Sawyer Goram-Welch (Longview, 6A Div. II)
Prince Dorbah (Highland Park, 5A Div. I)
Jordan Whittington (Cuero, 4A Div. II)

2019: Kristopher Ross* (Galena Park North Shore, 6A Div. I)
Connor Robertson* and Michael Taaffe (Austin Westlake, 6A Div. II)
Xavion Alford and Terrence Cooks* (Alvin Shadow Creek, 5A Div. I)
B.J. Allen* (Aledo, 5A Div. II)
Kelvontay Dixon (Carthage, 4A Div. I)

2020: Ethan Burke, Connor Robertson*, and Michael Taaffe (Austin Westlake, 6A Div. I)
Anthony Hill, Austin Jordan, and Ja’Tavion Sanders (Denton Ryan, 5A Div. I)
B.J. Allen* and Jaden Allen (Aledo, 5A Div. II)

2021: Kristopher Ross* (Galena Park North Shore, 6A Div. I)
Ethan Burke, Connor Robertson*, and Colton Vasek (Austin Westlake, 6A Div. II)
Malik Muhammad and Billy Walton (South Oak Cliff, 5A Div. II)

2022: Johntay Cook and Tre Wisner (DeSoto, 6A Div. II)
Jaden Allen (Aledo, 5A Div. I)
Malik Muhammad and Billy Walton (South Oak Cliff, 5A Div. II)

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Texas Longhorns who played for Texas private school state championship football teams

The number of Longhorn lettermen who came to Austin from the private school ranks is not large, and historic records of private school state champions are harder to track down than those of public school champions. So this list of Longhorns who played for championship teams of the Texas Christian Interscholastic League (TCIL, and known as the Texas Catholic Interscholastic League before 1976), Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS), or the Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC) is possibly incomplete.

Note: this section was updated after I tracked down a decade-old page that listed historic state champions in the state’s various private school leagues.

1984 — Waymond Wesley (Houston Marian Christian, TCIL AAA)

1987 — Alan Luther (Houston Kinkaid, SPC South)

1991 — Brian Dagley (Cedar Hill Trinity Christian, TAPPS AA)

1994 — Anish Michael (Dallas Bishop Lynch, TAPPS Super AAA)

1995 — Anish Michael (Dallas Bishop Lynch, TAPPS Super AAA)

2004: Sam Acho (Dallas St. Mark’s, SPC Division I)

2007: Emmanuel Acho (Dallas St. Mark’s, SPC Division I)

2009: Ty Templin (Fort Worth Trinity Valley, SPC Division II)

2018: Jaden Hullaby* (Dallas Bishop Dunne, TAPPS Division I)

2020: Will Stone (Austin Regents, TAPPS Division II)

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Texas Longhorns who coached state championship high school football teams

Many Longhorn football lettermen throughout the program’s history have joined the coaching ranks after the end of their playing careers, and several of them distinguished themselves in that profession. Tom Landry (co-captain of the 1948 Longhorn team) won two Super Bowls as head coach of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, and at least four Longhorns have won Texas high school state championships as head coaches.

Joe Clements, a three-year letterman at Texas from 1955 to 1957, is notable for having been the quarterback of Huntsville’s 1953 Class 2A state championship team, and later the head coach of its 1980 Class 4A championship team. Among the many players he coached in 19 seasons at his alma mater was future filmmaker Richard Linklater, and Clements was the inspiration for the football coach character in Linklater’s 1993 movie Dazed and Confused.

These are the four Longhorn lettermen I know of who have won state titles as head coaches.

Tom Dennis — Port Arthur Jefferson (1929 co-championship, and 1944)

Travis Raven — Austin Reagan (1967-68, and 1970, Class 4A)

Joe Clements — Huntsville (1980, Class 4A)

Todd Dodge — Southlake Carroll (2002 and 2004-05, Class 5A Division II; and 2006, Class 5A Division I), and Austin Westlake (2019 and 2021, Class 6A Division II; and 2020, Class 6A Division I)

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Texas Longhorns who played for state championship football teams outside of Texas

We’ve now reached the, “But wait, there’s more!” portion of the post. Roughly 10% of the Longhorn football program’s all-time lettermen attended high school outside of Texas, and several of those were part of state championship-winning teams in their home states. Aside from Texas, future Longhorn lettermen have helped win state titles in 14 other states.

The earliest one that I’ve found in that category is Rutledge Vining, who played end for the Longhorn teams of 1928-30, and while a senior at Pine Bluff High School in Arkansas he was part of its 1925 team that won 16 games and was proclaimed not just Arkansas’s state champion but was also declared the national champion team by some media groups at the time. Louisiana is the state most represented on this list, and Longhorns have contributed to multiple state championships in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Utah as well.

Trivia note: Phillip Geiggar, a four-year starter in the late 1990s at Louisiana powerhouse Shreveport Evangel Christian, is the only Longhorn I’ve found from any state who was a starter or significant contributor on four state championship teams. The full list of non-Texan state champion Longhorns is below, along with the high schools they attended and the state conference or classification their teams won. As with the Texas state champions above, the names with an asterisk are players who have been on scholarship with a Longhorn team but are not recognized lettermen, and the names written in italics are new signees who have yet to suit up for a college game.

1925: Rutledge Vining — Pine Bluff (Arkansas)

1931: Henry Mittermayer and John Morrow — South Bend Central (Indiana)

1962: Jerry Pritchard — Carlsbad (New Mexico AA)

1966: Bobby Mitchell and Freddie Steinmark — Wheat Ridge (Colorado AAA)

1971: Bill Hamilton — Las Cruces Mayfield (New Mexico AAAA)

1975: Rodney Tate — Beggs (Oklahoma Class A)

1978: Rick Benson — Chillicothe (Missouri 3A)

1983: Stephen Clark — River Ridge John Curtis (Louisiana Class 2A)

1984: Stephen Clark — River Ridge John Curtis (Louisiana Class 2A)

1985: Stephen Clark — River Ridge John Curtis (Louisiana Class 2A)

1996: Phillip Geiggar and Cole Pittman — Shreveport Evangel Christian (Louisiana Class 3A)

1997: Phillip Geiggar, Stevie Lee, and Cole Pittman — Shreveport Evangel Christian (Louisiana Class 3A)
Chris Simms — Franklin Lakes Ramapo (New Jersey Section I Group III)

1998: Bo Scaife — Denver Mullen (Colorado 5A)
Phillip Geiggar, Stevie Lee, and Cole Pittman — Shreveport Evangel Christian (Louisiana Class 3A)

1999: Austin Sendlein and Lyle Sendlein — Scottsdale Chaparral (Arizona Conference 4A)
Phillip Geiggar, Stevie Lee, and Chase Pittman — Shreveport Evangel Christian (Louisiana Class 5A)
Bryan Pickryl — Jenks (Oklahoma Class 6A)

2000: Lyle Sendlein — Scottsdale Chaparral (Arizona Conference 4A)
Greg Johnson — Lilburn Parkview (Georgia AAAAA)
Bryan Pickryl — Jenks (Oklahoma Class 6A)

2001: Chase Pittman — Shreveport Evangel Christian (Louisiana Class 5A)
Greg Johnson — Lilburn Parkview (Georgia AAAAA)
Bryan Pickryl — Jenks (Oklahoma Class 6A)

2003: Aaron Lewis — Albuquerque La Cueva (New Mexico 5A)

2006: William Russ — Shreveport Evangel Christian (Louisiana Class 1A)

2009: William Russ — Shreveport Evangel Christian (Louisiana Class 2A)

2011: Andrew Beck and Trey Holtz — Tampa Plant (Florida Class 8A)

2014: Davante Davis — Miami Booker T. Washington (Florida Class 4A)
Garrett Thomas — Many (Louisiana Class 2A)

2015: Junior Angilau — Salt Lake City East (Utah Class 4A)

2016: Brayden Liebrock — Chandler (Arizona Conference 6A)
Kenyatta Watson — Loganville Grayson (Georgia 7A)
Juwan Mitchell — Middletown Township Mater Dei Prep (New Jersey Non-Public Group II)
Junior Angilau — Salt Lake City East (Utah Class 4A)

2017: Brayden Liebrock — Chandler (Arizona Conference 6A)

2018: Brayden Liebrock — Chandler (Arizona Conference 6A)
Marcus Washington — St. Louis Trinity Catholic (Missouri Class 3)

2019: Xavier Worthy — Fresno Central (California Division I-AA)

2021: Spencer Shannon — Santa Ana Mater Dei (California Open Division)
Maalik Murphy* — Gardena Junipero Serra (California Division I-A)
Liona Lefau — Kahuku (Hawaii Division I-Open)
Derek Williams — New Iberia Westgate (Louisiana Class 4A)
Sydir Mitchell — Oradell Bergen Catholic (New Jersey Non-Public A)

2022: Liona Lefau — Kahuku (Hawaii Division I-Open)
Sydir Mitchell — Oradell Bergen Catholic (New Jersey Non-Public A)
Tausili Akana — Lehi Skyridge (Utah 6A)

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Texas Longhorns who were part of a state championship high school team and an NCAA national championship team

Many of the players on the previous lists were part of some great Longhorn teams during their time in Austin, and I’ve found 26 who were part of championship teams at both the high school and college level. Texas has claimed four national championships in football: in 1963, 1969, 1970, and 2005. The following lettermen on those teams also won state championships as high schoolers.

1963: Scott Appleton, Jim Besselman, Tim Doerr, Bobby Gamblin, Ben House, and David McWilliams

1969: Terry Collins, Billy Dale, Glen Halsell, Bobby Mitchell, Johnny Robinson, Freddie Steinmark, Randy Stout, and Steve Worster

1970: Mike Bayer, Terry Collins, Billy Dale, Ray Dowdy, Randy Stout, and Steve Worster

2005: Rashad Bobino, Christopher Brown, Quan Cosby, Eric Foreman, Greg Johnson, Nate Jones, Aaron Lewis, Derek Lokey, Richmond McGee, and Lyle Sendlein

Note: Marco Martin was a member of Mesquite High School’s 2001 Class 5A Division I state championship team and appeared in 3 games during UT’s 2005 national championship season, but he is not recognized as a Longhorn letterman. Also, the original version of this section omitted Rashad Bobino from the group of players on the 2005 Longhorn team who had previously won state championships, as my notes erroneously indicated he had been a Longhorn letterman from 2006 to 2009, rather than 2005 to 2008. My thanks to a reader for bringing this omission to my attention.

I’m not aware of any Longhorns who won championships at the high school, college, and pro levels. It appears that the only one who has even come close to that trifecta was Lyle Sendlein, who was a member of two Scottsdale Chaparral teams that won Arizona state championships, was the starting center on UT’s 2005 national championship team, and was the starting center on the 2008 Arizona Cardinals team that played in Super Bowl XLIII but lost 27-23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Hopefully some of the Longhorns who’ve added their names very recently to the program’s list of state champions will have their name in this section as well by the end of their college career.

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Texas Longhorns who played on three state championship teams in high school

Stuart Peake — Abilene, 1954-56

Stephen Clark — River Ridge (Louisiana) John Curtis, 1983-85

Phillip Geiggar — Shreveport (Louisiana) Evangel Christian, 1996-99

Cole Pittman — Shreveport (Louisiana) Evangel Christian, 1996-98

Stevie Lee — Shreveport (Louisiana) Evangel Christian, 1997-99

Cedric Benson — Midland Lee, 1998-2000

Bryan Pickryl — Jenks (Oklahoma), 1999-2001

Tre Newton — Southlake Carroll, 2004-06

Steve Edmond — Daingerfield, 2008-10

Kendall Thompson — Carthage, 2008-10

Johnathan Gray — Aledo, 2009-11

Brayden Liebrock — Chandler (Arizona), 2016-18

Connor Robertson — Austin Westlake, 2019-21

2024 cornerback commit Jaden Allen has a chance to add his name to this list next fall, as he will go into his senior year at Aledo having already state championship medals in 2020 and 2022.