Dave’s Campbell’s Texas Football magazine is out this week. The magazine always kicks off the football season in the Lone Star State. This year’s cover and lead story is about the coaching success of the Joseph family: father Gary and son Jeff. For the Joseph family in Texas, football is a “Family Business.”
Gary Joseph is a legendary coach from Katy High School. With an all-time head coaching record of 168-14, The elder Joseph led the Tigers to four state titles and eight appearances in the championship game. His nearly four decades in Texas High School football include leadership positions on the Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCSA). In 2007, Gary was named Katy’s citizen of the year.
But football is a family affair. And Gary Joseph will tell you that his greatest joy has been coaching his son Jeff at Katy and watching Jeff following his footsteps. After 15 years as an assistant, Jeff took over the reins as Head Coach at Port Neches-Grove (PN-G) in 2022. He immediately led PN-G to a state title game appearance and finished the job with a state championship last year. Like father like son it seems, in this “family business” that is Texas high school football.
And both Gary and Jeff will point to the Joseph family patriarch as the inspiration for their own success: Jeff’s grandfather, Gary’s father, and an Austin College Kangaroo: Eddie Joseph.
After an exceptional high school career at quarterback in the late 1940s, Eddie Joseph left Dallas to play for Bud Wilkinson’s Oklahoma Sooners in 1950. But an injury combined with the competitive environment of America’s top program soon had Eddie looking for opportunities closer to home. He found them at Austin College, moving to Sherman in 1951.
For two seasons under Hall of Fame Coach Ray Morrison, Eddie Joseph led the Kangaroos at QB in Texas Conference play. Eddie was one of 29 Kangaroos to earn a football letter, for contributions including touchdown tosses against Texas A&I, Howard Payne, and Trinity. Eddie’s final year under center in a Roos uniform also included an AC game against the University of Mexico at the Cotton Bowl; Eddie’s former OU teammates defeated Texas in the Cotton Bowl that same weekend, extending what would eventually become a record 47 game winning streak for the Sooners.
His AC playing days over, Eddie Joseph began a hall of fame career in the world of Texas coaching. After numerous stops as an assistant in the 1950s and 1960s, Eddie arrived at Wharton High School as Head Coach in 1968. There, he guided the Tigers to a 138-54-6 record over 14 years. He also served for 22 years as an executive within the THSCA, including the Presidency in 1980. In 1994, Eddie Joseph was inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame.
But football is a family affair. And despite these many accomplishments, Eddie Joseph would likely tell you that his greatest joy was coaching his son Gary at Wharton and then watching Gary follow his footsteps.
Eddie Joseph passed in 2019. Later that fall, Wharton football officially renamed Tiger Stadium as Eddie Joseph Memorial Stadium. Son Gary was there along with Eddie’s wife Mary. “It was a neat thing for my mother (Mary),” [Gary] Joseph said. “It was a great thing for a way to remember him, more than anything else. We were all very appreciative of that, and how important coaches are to people’s lives. [My dad] was a great person as much as a good coach, and people remember that.”
Roo Eddie Joseph is mentioned prominently in the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football article, entitled “Texas Football’s First Family:”
“His old man never talked about himself. [Coach] Gary only learned about his father Eddie Joseph’s athletic career after finding his mom’s newspaper clippings. Everything Gary learned from his dad came by observing him coach at Wharton High School growing up. They were one of the profession’s most respected father-son duos, Gary as Katy High’s coach and Eddie in his second act as the Executive Vice President of the Texas High School Coaches Association.”
“[Now], the Josephs are still high school football’s preeminent name – [and] Gary is the patriarch. His son Jeff is entering his third year as Port Neches-Groves’ head coach. Gary and Jeff are the first active state champion father-son head coaching duo. And yet, when asked to grace this year’s Dave Campbell’s Texas Football cover to commemorate that historic accomplishment, everything in their DNA screamed “Say no!” Eddie’s other golden rule: coaching is about the kids – not you.”
How is a Roo Tale born? It’s born because of you. Former Kangaroo James Kowaleski (Coach Kovo) was attending a Texas coaching conference recently, when he stumbled into a conversation with Coach Jeff Joseph. After discussing the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football cover, Kovo mentioned his AC past. “That’s where my grandfather played!” replied Jeff Joseph. One text later from Kovo and a Roo Tale was in the works. Just in time for football season in Texas.
Texas football is a big deal, and nothing is bigger than the cover of Dave Campbell’s highlighting the success of the Joseph family. AC is just little fish in the big “Texas football” pond. But AC is also an historic institution in the Lone Star State. So, it should come as no surprise that if you climb the family tree of this “family business” that is Texas football, you’ll eventually come to a patriarch who doubles as an Austin College Kangaroo.
https://coveringkaty.com/sports/dave-campbell%E2%80%99s-texas-football-magazine-to-feature-katy-coac
