When Alief Taylor head football coach/athletic coordinator Brian Randle accepted the same job at Mayde Creek earlier this week, he saw a lot of similarities.

“It was an opportunity to work with like-minded people,” Randle said. “Katy ISD does it right. They do it the best. They’ve got a great group of kids there and I’m looking forward to the challenge. They’ve got similar type of kids as to what I’m dealing with in Alief, and I feel like we’ll be successful and do some great things.”

Randle describes his approach as “head-on, upfront and direct, honest.”

“The same way the administration there does,” he said. “We want the best for kids, and our job is to put kids in position to be successful. That’s what’s been going on there, and I just want to build on that and continue that success.”

Katy ISD formally announced Randle’s hiring on Friday morning. His first day at Mayde Creek is Feb. 13.

Randle succeeds Mike Rabe, who left the Rams last month to take the head football coach/athletic coordinator job at Jordan High, Katy ISD’s ninth high school that opens in August.

Randle spent the last four seasons as head coach at Alief Taylor, where he compiled an overall record of 18-21. In his first year in 2016, the Lions had a strong season, going 9-2 and earning a trip to the area playoffs. The last three seasons, the Lions were 9-19 with no playoff appearances.

“One thing that came out very clearly to me was his passion for kids,” Katy ISD athletic director Debbie Decker said. “He’s a very good guy. Every kid matters to him; it’s a ‘no kid left behind’ type of deal. It can be a football kid, a cross country kid, a basketball girl, whomever. His passion for kids was overwhelming during the interview process.”

A plus was that Alief Taylor has played Katy ISD schools in non-district football competition in the past. It was simply more knowledge and experience for Decker in getting to know Randle.

Katy ISD studies coaches, inside and outside of the district, often, particularly during the playoffs, for background information and knowledge of potential future coaching candidates.

“It’s always helpful when you have that opportunity to see these guys in action,” Decker said. “For me, truthfully, coaches are interviewing every day. I always want to watch and observe. So, then we have some thoughts in terms of how they truly are.

“Some people are really good interviewers and some aren’t, and it’s hard to base such a complicated decision and such a huge decision that has such a ripple effect on a campus by just a few hours of interviews. It’s important to do some background work.”

Randle is a graduate of Texas A&M-Kingsville. His coaching career began in 2003 as an assistant coach at Foster High. From 2004 to 2009, Randle served as an assistant coach at Mansfield High School. He later joined the staff at Alief Taylor in 2009 as its defensive coordinator before taking over seven years later.

Randle will still have a significant role in the defense while at the helm of the Rams. Mayde Creek will have a 4-3 or 4-2 base defense, but will be multiple depending on the opponent’s offense.

“We’re going to make you bat left-handed,” Randle said, using a baseball metaphor.

Offensively, Randle said he has to get the ball into the hands of playmakers in space.

“We don’t have the big linemen like Katy, but we have kids that are going to get after it,” he said. “We’ve just got to get the ball out on the perimeter and create matchups.”

Randle was impressed by the facilities at Mayde Creek, which recently underwent drastic renovation. But he is more excited about working with a feeder system.

Cardiff and Mayde Creek junior highs feed into Mayde Creek. Alief ISD has a draw in which, each spring, seventh graders from the district’s six middle schools are randomly drawn to one of its five high schools, though only Hastings, Elsik and Taylor have athletic programs.

“The beautiful thing about Mayde Creek and Katy ISD is we have a feeder system,” Randle said. “We didn’t have a feeder system where I’m coming from. That seventh-grade group hasn’t lost a game, and I’ve got to get there and make sure they stay together. That’s the biggest challenge in my mind—keeping kids together and at Mayde Creek. I know if we do that, we can be successful.”

On Friday morning, Randle met with Mayde Creek faculty. He came across as very personable and was adamant that he wasn’t there to change things. He emphasized an “open door” policy.

Mayde Creek’s football program is on the upswing following a 2019 season in which the Rams made the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and won their first playoff game since 1997.

“We’ve got to grind,” Randle said. “We’ve got to keep the kids there. If they’re zoned to Mayde Creek, we have to let parents know, ‘Hey, we’re going to get them on to the next level and we’re going to wrap our arms around them and make them feel loved.’ I think if we can do that, we’ll have success and parents won’t move their kids south of I-10. That’s the goal.”