Rhoades announces retirement, CISD looking for new AD

Yoe High will be looking for a new athletic director and head coach after State Champion Coach Rick Rhoades announced his retirement last week.

Rhoades first set foot in Cameron for his first coaching stint in 2009 and was there until 2015. The first thing that attracted him to Cameron was the size of the school. 

“When I came in 2009, I had two children in high school and two in junior high,” Rhoades said. “It was very important to me that they would get the opportunity to be involved in many sports and activities and a school the size of Cameron gave them these opportunities. I was also impressed with the facilities at Yoe High School. To this day, whenever I bring in an applicant, I take them by our Performing Arts Center. We have got great facilities at Yoe High School.” 

Despite barely missing the playoffs in his first season in 2009, the team finished with a record of 6-4 and a district record of 3-3. From that point on, he had nothing but positive success with the Yoemen, with six consecutive postseason appearances, five state title appearances, and three state championships. After the 2015 season he left for a coaching job in Gregory-Portland just outside of Corpus-Christi, where he coached the Wildcats for five years. 

Rhoades decided to try a brief retirement, and during retirement he said the only things that would bring him back to coaching were: it would have to be a job that’s in the Central Texas area because all of his kids are in Central Texas. The other thing was he wanted to go someplace where he had a chance to win. 

Fortunately for Rhoades, the familiar town of Cameron became available, and the timing for him could not have been better. In his three year return in Cameron, he led the Yoemen to two playoff seasons and a trip to the regional round last year. Coach Rhoades has had and made many fond memories during his time in Cameron, including his three peat from 2012-2014, which may never be matched. Another special memory of his was taking the 2010 team to the State Finals.

“Although we lost the game, I was so proud of what those young men accomplished,” Rhoades said. “The fact that my son, Jack, quarterbacked that team even made it that much more special. I really believe that group of young men set the standard that helped us make the great run we made from 2012 to 2015. Obviously hoisting up that State Championship Trophy in 2012, 2013, and 2014 were great memories as well.” 

The titles and the trophies were only part of what made his time here so special. Some of the things he enjoyed the most about coaching the team throughout the years was the relationships and the comradery  that he had with the players and the coaches. 

“This community really bought into the philosophy of our program and because of that, we were able to accomplish some great things,” Rhoades said. “I can honestly say that I looked forward to coming to work every day, the kids were great, the coaches were great, it was just a great place to work.” 

Rhoades retires with an incredible career record of 99-35 as the Yoemen head coach. 

The district will begin the search for a new athletic director and head coach immediately. Superintendent Kevin Sprinkles said the job would be posted this week during Monday’s board meeting.

“We have thought about where our community is and about the future and what are we looking for,” Spinkles said. “It would be my recommendation to post the position quickly because time is of the essence. We want to position ourselves to get the best person out there.”

The district will develop a profile with a committee of staff and community members to decide what the district is searching for. Then Sprinkles will match the applicants with that profile and begin interviews. 

Sprinkles said he hopes to have the position filled by the start of spring football. Assistant Coach Jack Rhoades will serve as interim athletic director until the position is filled.

The CISD board expressed their appreciation to Rhoades during the board meeting and Board President Franci Denio said Rhoades has definitely written an important part of Yoe sports history in his time in Cameron.