John Wilkins is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He was highly successful in his 13 years as

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Permian High School Permian High School is a public high school located in Odessa, Texas and is one of three high schools in the Ector County Independent School District. It was the subject of the book '' Friday Night Lights'', which in turn inspired a movie and T ...

Odessa, Texas Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, ma ...

, amassing a 148–16–7 record and two Class 5A state titles. John was inducted into the Texas High School Coaches Association Hall of Honor July 30, 2003. Wilkins became head coach at Odessa Permian in 1973 after serving as an assistant to Gil Bartosh. In 1975, Permian made the state final for the first time during Wilkins' tenure, but lost 20–10 to Port Neches-Groves. Five years later, Odessa Permian faced Port Arthur Jefferson, guided by Ronnie Thompson and led by

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Todd Dodge Todd Russell Dodge (born July 21, 1963) is an American football coach and former player, and recently retired head coach at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin where he played quarterba ...

. Permian won the game 28–19. Wilkins' 1984 squad tied Beaumont French for the title. The next year, Permian lost to Houston Yates in a 37–0 blowout at the

Texas Stadium Texas Stadium was an American football stadium located in Irving, Texas, a suburb west of Dallas. Opened on October 24, 1971, it was known for its distinctive hole in the roof, the result of abandoned plans to construct a retractable roof (Cowboy ...

. In 1985 Wilkins left his coach's office in order to become

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

of the

Ector County Independent School District Ector County Independent School District (ECISD) is a public school district based in Odessa, Texas, United States. In addition to the majority of Odessa (the portions in Ector County), the district also serves the communities of West Odessa, ...

. Wilkins took the athletic director job at private Trinity School of Midland, Texas in 1998, and found himself back on the sideline as head coach until Spring 2002. He currently resides in East Odessa Texas.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people High school football coaches in Texas People from Odessa, Texas {{amfoot-coach-stub