While exploring new opportunities, RHS head track coach Lewis Edmonson was offered the same position at Class 5A Manor High School and was one of two final candidates for the same job at Cy-Springs High, a Class 6A school in the Houston suburbs.
However, when it came time to take a new opportunity, the Caldwell native and his wife Francesca, a Hearne graduate, both decided they wanted to be close to family.
This led Edmonson to announce last week that he is the new track and field coach at Class 2A Hearne High School.
“As a younger coach, I would have been looking for a bigger program, where the culture is winning,” Edmonson said. “But as I’ve gotten older, I have to look at the educational aspect as well.
“Now, I’ve been put into a place where I’m also a campus behavior interventionist. I’ll work with the assistant principal. It’s great for if I decide I’m done with coaching and want to be in an administrative role. That’s why I ended up looking at Hearne, because nobody else offered that to me.”
He also mentioned other advantages of going to Hearne, where he coached from 2012-2016.
“If me and my wife are busy, there’s a lot of family that can watch our kids.” he said. “Also, pre-K is free in Hearne, so that saves us about $500-600 per month.”
During his time with the Blue-and-Gold, the Prairie View alum had 11 state qualifiers in his five seasons at the helm. One of those seasons was 2020, which did not have a state track and field meet.
“I love these kids to death,” he said of the students he coached at RISD. “At the end of the day, it was a great run here in Rockdale.”
Outside of school hours, he still spends time at the track, training some of the area’s top high school athletes including Franklin’s Jaxson Zimmerman, Thorndale’s Branson McCoy and Cameron’s Brittani and Brandi Drake, who all qualified for the state track meet last month.
Edmonson also said he wants all of his student athletes to remember that they have to fight for what they want and that nothing is ever going to be given to you in life.
In addition to his coaching duties at HHS, Edmonson will also help with football and coach the wide receivers.
He announced via Facebook that he was leaving Rockdale in early April.
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