Wednesday, December 11, 2024
For the first time in nearly two decades, the Granbury sports programs will go into a new academic year with a new athletic director at the helm.
Lamont Moore replaces Dwight Butler, who led GISD sports since coming to Granbury from Big Spring in 2005. Butler retired at the end of the 2023-24 school year.
Moore actually joined the district in March as he was making the transition to take the helm. In his short time, he has already made two head coaching hires.
Moore comes to Granbury from Waxahachie, where he was the head track and field coach and a campus administrator. He’s anxious to get his first athletic director gig underway.
“As I head into my first year as an AD, I couldn’t be more excited. I was presented with a great opportunity to make an imprint on this athletic program, and also in the community,” Moore said. “Thankful for Dr. (Jeremy) Glenn (GISD Superintendent) and the trustees for giving me this opportunity.
“I can’t wait to start laying out my mission, my vision for the athletic program. I think we’re off to a good start with the hires we made and working with the current coaches I inherited.”
Moore was at Waxahachie for over six years. He was also an assistant football coach from 2015-20 and again this past season. Before returning to Waxahachie, he was assistant principal, head track and field coach and assistant football at Burleson High from 2020-23.
He began his coaching career at Coram Deo Academy in Flower Mound in 2010 and was later the assistant head football coach of the Home School Athletic Association in Richardson from 2013-15.
Moore is a Waxahachie native and 1993 graduate with a resume as impressive as almost any high school player has put together. He was inducted in 2023 into the WHS Athletic Hall of Fame for leading the Indians to the 1992 Class 4A University Interscholastic League football state championship.
While playing at Waxahachie, he was also named a High School All-American and the “Dallas Morning News” Metro Player of the Year.
Moore went on to play football at Baylor University as a quarterback and wide receiver from 1993-96. After college, he played professionally in the Arena Football League for nine years for the Dallas Desperados, New Orleans Voodoo and Orlando Predators, scoring over 25 touchdowns in his career.
FOOTBALL
Bobby Allison was hired in early December and has raised the hopes of Pirates faithful. He spent the previous decade as the assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Northwest High School since 2014.
Allison helped the Texans reach the playoffs every season since 2016, compiling 62 victories in that span. This includes a 10-3 record and a third-round appearance last season.
Allison has 20 years of experience with stops at Odessa, Sharpstown, Levelland and San Angelo Central as well. He also has college experience, working two seasons as the special teams coordinator at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Allison also has experience in turning a program around. During his time at Northwest, the Texans posted their first playoff victory in 2016, improving from 1-9 to 10-2.
In his time at San Angelo Central as the co-defensive coordinator, the Bobcats won 10 games for the first time in 20 years and advanced to the postseason. As the defensive coordinator at Sharpstown, he helped the team snap a 29-game losing streak and go 6-4 in his first season.
“I know he wasn’t my hire, but we hit it off immediately. His vision is my vision,” Moore said. “I probably would have hired him if I was the AD at the time. He’s done an excellent job in the short time he has been at the helm. The football program is in good hands.”
BOYS BASKETBALL
Jeremy McFerrin takes over and has 13 years of experience as a basketball head coach, with stops at Plano West, Lubbock Monterey, and Trinity Christian-Lubbock.
McFerrin replaces the retired David Breazeale, who was one of the longest tenured coaches in GHS history. He led the Pirates to the postseason several times in his 14 seasons, accumulating more than 200 of his 554 overall career wins in Granbury.
McFerrin comes to Granbury from Plano West, where in his three years there he led the Wolves to a 20-win season in 2023-24 and increased the school’s win total in every season. While at Lubbock Monterey, he made the postseason all four years, highlighted by a 29-9 record in 2018-19, where coached his team to the 5A regional tournament.
McFerrin was later named the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) 5A Outstanding Coach of the Year in 2019.
At the private school level as athletic director and head basketball coach, McFerrin guided Trinity Christian-Lubbock to a Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) Class 4A state championship in 2017. He was a two-time TABC coach of the year in 2016 and 2017 while at Trinity Christian.
‘We are super excited to get Coach McFerrin. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience,” Moore said. “A dynamic coach who can teach the game and build long lasting relationships with student-athletes. He’s a winner and visionary, we can’t wait to see what he does with our basketball program.”
BOYS SOCCER
Joshua Croft comes to the program with hopes of returning the Pirates to the glory they once knew not so long ago. The program has one of the most storied histories at the school, including winning Granbury only team state championship in 1999.
Croft has been a varsity assistant for the past four years at Bridgeland High School, where he helped lead the Bears to 57 wins in that time. This included a 16-6A district championship, two JV district titles, three bi-district championships, and a 6A Region 2 finals berth.
“Coach Croft is a young, hungry, dynamic coach looking to make his mark in the state of Texas,” Moore said. “’We are excited to see what he can do with our soccer program.”
