Anton ISD announced back in May about the departure of the Bulldogs head basketball coach Ezekiel Clay.
Since then, the previous football head coach and athletic director, Brian Duncan, has taken the reins as head basketball coach and Tell Rutledge was hired to be the new head football coach for the Bulldogs.
Rutledge is originally from Whitharral and his wife is from Anton. Rutledge said he and his wife have been trying to move back to the area for around four years, since the birth of their first child.
“We were trying to get back up close to family. We have been trying to do this for the last four years or so and it finally worked out this time so it’s been good. We arere excited about it,” Rutledge said.
Rutledge has been a coach for 11 years in football, basketball and track.
Rutledge has coached at Leakey, where he coached its football team to the semifinals round of playoffs, as well as Zephyr, Bronte and Irion County where he made multiple playoff runs. Rutledge has been a head football coach for five years and an athletic director for three.
Coach Rutledge is very excited to have this opportunity to show the Anton community how good the Bulldogs football team can be.
When asked about what has stood out to him the most about the team during summer workouts Rutledge said, “The work ethic. I mean I always knew Anton’s always had some pretty decent athletes but in these few weeks I have gotten to spend with them, they get after it and work hard, which is pretty exciting.”
Rutledge stated that the biggest strength the team has is their speed, which is very important in 6-man football. Some of the key returning players are senior Shooter Campos, sophomore Cash Satterfield, sophomore Isaiah Alafa, and sophomore Chavi Avalos.
“The sophomore class is gonna be pretty solid,” Rutledge said. “I would say our biggest returner though is Shooter Campos.” Rutledge said his main focus during the summer off season is building relationships with the players.
“I think every good coach knows that without those relationships, it really doesn’t matter how much experience or how much knowledge you have. If those kids don’t think that you care about them as individuals, nothing else really matters,” said Rutledge.
Rutledge says something he wants to really emphasize in the offseason and have perfected for the season is mental toughness and overcoming adversity. Rutledge talked about the kind of culture he wants to create - not just on the football field but in the locker room, on the bus and even in the school hallways - is work ethic, toughness and being a good teammate.
“It all boils down to that,” Rutledge said. “Everything else comes from those three things. For the most part, these kids have that; Coach Duncan has done a good job the last few years of establishing that and making that the standard.”
“My main goal is to be the very best we can be, be the best football team and get better each week. Everybody likes to talk about wins, losses, and playoff rounds, but if I were to assign a goal like that for this team, it would be to win district then go week by week in the playoffs,” Rutledge said about his team goals.
Rutledge summed it up, “Anton has always had potential, you know they’ve got good athletes, and I think we are gonna surprise a few people.”
Rutledge inherits a team that is 90-76 overall since 2009 and went 3-6 overall and 1-2 in district last year.
Anton will kick off the season off with a scrimmage against Petersburg on Aug. 14 with their first official game on Aug. 28 at Southland.