Building Badgers: How a youth organization, the right hire produced 3 district football titles

CAPTION: Eight years ago, Lampasas Independent School District hired one of its 1994 graduates, Troy Rogers, as the football head coach and athletic director. In 2023, his Badgers won all three district titles at the high school level. Photo by Christopher Miles/Christopher Miles Photography

During the 2023 football season, the Lampasas High School football program won three District 13-4A Division I titles. The varsity was co-champion, while the junior varsity and the freshmen each captured championships.

But those types of seasons don’t happen because of good fortune, according to two men who’ve been around Lampasas athletics a long time. They say the results from this season were put in place years earlier thanks to the creation of the Building Badgers Youth League and the hire of Lampasas Independent School District athletic director and football head coach Troy Rogers.

Lampasas High School Principal Joey McQueen was the athletic director and football head coach from 2007-2012 and noted the Building Badgers, which today is under the direction of Grace Fellowship Church, was already in place. He credited LHS Assistant Principal Paul Weinheimer for what it is today: a youth organization that works hand in hand with the Lampasas Independent School District head coaches in ensuring youngsters get the basics they need in each sport so they know what to expect as they keep growing and advancing from grade to grade.

“He built it and ran it for five years,” McQueen said.

Weinheimer recalled those days fondly, indicating his favorite role was developing friendships with families of the youngsters and the coaches in all sports and age groups and being apart of helping them all develop rapport.

He believes one reason why the organization is successful is because it has the same director.

“Someone who’s there year in and year out,” he said. “The church has given it stability every year. Everyone knows who’s running it — flag, tackle, cheer, volleyball, basketball and summer track. The city (of Lampasas) does baseball, softball and soccer.”

One big key for success was organizing opportunities for the head coaches to give a clinic to the youth coaches on their playbook, schemes and drills.

It was emphasized to the youth coaches to help their players develop a deeper affection for the sport. What’s the advantage of one youth organization offering multiple sports? The biggest is encouraging youngsters to play everything, Weinheimer said.

“We need our better athletes to play multiple sports,” he said. “We all believe playing multiple sports helps athletes.”

Weinheimer noted that seven years ago, the football program drew no more than 60 players. In 2023, the Badgers’ high school program had a total of 135 athletes, McQueen said.

Those numbers and championships are under Rogers’ direction, a former Badgers quarterback himself who played in the early 1990s.

Before Rogers’ was hired in February 2016, Lampasas had four different head coaches in eight years and 10 in 24 years.

Rogers had never been a head coach until his alma mater gave him a chance. But he had the resume of a proven winner. During his senior season in high school, he set a single-season passing record and was named the Offensive Player of the Year. He led the Badgers to a 12-2 record, their best in program history, and the regional quarterfinals.

He was the receivers coach at Stephen F. Austin where he graduated with a degree in kinesiology in 1999. He also coached at Copperas Cove, Baytown Lee, Clear Creek and Lewisville and was the offensive coordinator at Clear Springs.

He resigned as the offensive coordinator of Galena Park North Shore to take the Lampasas job after helping the Mustangs win the Class 6A Division I championship in 2015 in a 21-14 overtime thriller against Austin Westlake.

Rogers worked with Building Badgers by sharing his playbook, his drills and hosting conferences for the youth coaches.

“Coach Rogers and myself had a close relationship,” Weinheimer said. “We got with the volleyball head coach, the basketball head coaches. We asked, ‘What are your drills? What’s your offense and defense? What drills do you want us to run?’ We wanted to make sure (the youngsters) were going to see the same drills and have the same terminology. I think it’s made a positive impact.”

The Badgers’ varsity team finished 1-9 in 2016 and 2-8 in 2017. But in year three, Lampasas was 8-5, finished second in the district campaign with a 4-1 record, and reached the Class 4A Division I third round.

Weinheimer said the community was encouraged because it could see that Rogers “was putting the pieces in place” by being on the middle school campus and around the youth teams. He called that the foundation.

“Coach Rogers has a great program, a stable program,” he said. “We started getting over the hump with the practices and the staff. You’re going to have to get a coach who’ll be patient. It took him a year or two.”

McQueen recalled watching Rogers in a Lampasas uniform when the Badgers faced Cuero in San Marcos during the playoffs in 1993. At the time, McQueen was working in Mason.

“We wanted to watch Troy,” he said. “Troy has roots here and knows what it takes.”

The two men believe the Lampasas football program will continue to be successful. McQueen, who serves as a youth coach, was enthusiastic as he talked about the talent he sees on the third- and fourth-grade team, the fifth- and sixth-grade team and those at the middle school.

“And we have a lot of kids coming back on our varsity,” he said.

Recently, McQueen asked Rogers why he hasn’t left for a job at a bigger school district.

“I haven’t finished what I started,” the coach told his principal. “He’s a smart coach who’s earned that right.”

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