When asked about his induction into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in Waco, Saturday, May 7th, Kenneth West, the longtime assistant coach for the Brownwood Lions, replied, “It’s the biggest honor in my life.” West had a large group of family, friends and former players gather at the Farrell Center in Waco to see him inducted into the High School Football Hall of Fame as the Texas high school football player representing the decade of the 1950s. It was in his senior season in 1951 as a two-way lineman for the Stamford Bulldogs that his path first crossed with Gordon Wood. That encounter would move his life in a direction he never would have dreamed of before.
Wood came to Stamford as the new head football coach replacing Carl Cook who led the Bulldogs to 1-9 and 7-3 records for 1949 and 1950. Wood got Stamford to a 9-1 season mark that first year. The only loss was 14-7 to Anson for the district championship and the right to advance into the state playoffs. West commented, “We had the material to go to state, but we lost nine of 12 fumbles to Anson.”
West played as an offensive tackle and defensive tackle his senior season and made All-District for the Bulldogs. After the season ended, Wood asked him if he ever thought about playing college football. West told him he couldn’t afford to go to college. Wood replied that he would get a scholarship offer soon. Within a week, West got an offer from Texas Western (now UTEP) which he accepted. Other offers came from Texas A & M and Texas Tech. But he had a promise of a job, an off season job in Jal, New Mexico; so he was sticking with his commitment to Texas Western even though it was 450 miles away from home. He even had his car packed to leave on a Saturday. Then came word from Hardin Simmons College whose coaches also had recruited him that the school was beginning a ROTC program the next year. That fact plus the fact that Hardin Simmons was only 45 miles away from home made him recommit to Hardin Simmons.
West played under Sammy Baugh, newly retired from the Washington Redskins. He made All Border Conference for his line play. Baugh gave him a coaching position on the Hardin Simmons staff after his eligibility to play ended. Then in 1958, he joined Wood’s staff at Victoria. He also coached at Brady and Coleman before rejoining Wood at Brownwood in 1963. Wood had already brought one state title to the Lions in 1960, his first year at their helm. West and Wood were now on a path together that would last for the rest of both their coaching careers and beyond.
For the Lions, West began preparing detailed scouting reports about their upcoming opponents. Wood had him coaching the offensive line, defensive line and linebackers. West retired from coaching in 1984. During his time in Brownwood, the Lions compiled a 217-45 record. There were 13 district championships and appearances in seven state championship games. The Lions won six of the seven state title games in 1965, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1978 and 1981. They lost the title game in 1977.
In 1985, West became Wood’s boss when he became the principal at Brownwood High. Wood ended his 44 year coaching career after that 1985 season. West retired in 1993 as principal.
In two separate interviews, West gave the names of some of his players who went on to become football coaches and some of the games during his Brownwood career that especially stood out for him. He named the players in an interview last week. He led off with his son, Glen West, who has been a very successful coach at Brenham High School the past 19 years. He also named Kyle Storey, Tommy George, Sam Harrell, Greg Agnew and Ken Oehrlein.
West related that among the games that held special memories for him were the Semi-Final game with Bay City in 1978, the State Championship game the next week with Gainesville, the 1967 district game with Wichita Falls Hirschi and the State Championship game in 1981 against Fort Bend Willow Ridge. His comments about those games took place in 2014 in an interview which appeared in the book, FRIDAY’S WINNERS, about the 12 most winningest high school football teams in Texas.
There were four tables at the induction banquet Saturday at the Farrell Center when West joined the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame that were filled with his family, friends and fans. It was just a small sampling of the many people West has influenced and loved and been loved by in return all these decades.