April 27, 2005

He's back. Don Carthel is returning to college football and the Lone Star Conference as the new head football coach for West Texas A&M University, introduced today (April 27) by Ed Harris, WTAMU athletic director.

Carthel, 52, becomes WTAMU's 26th head coach in the program's 95 year history. He succeeds Ronnie Jones, who resigned April 19, following a University investigation that concluded he used state and school resources for personal gain.

Carthel had been the head coach for the Amarillo Dusters, an Arena Football League 2 team, resigning that post Tuesday to take over the helm of the Buffaloes.

"Don Carthel has a proven record, a passion for coaching and a commitment to winning," Dr. Russell C. Long, WTAMU president said. "He has a strong support base in this area and is well known as a man of principle and integrity.

"I have every confidence that he will field a competitive team we can all be proud of."

Carthel will begin his coaching duties immediately, which include spring recruiting and evaluating the current coaching staff and make changes where he feels necessary.

"I am very pleased to have Coach Carthel assume the head coaching position for the Buffaloes," Harris said. "Don has a history of winning wherever he has been and he has done it with class, integrity and a focus on the student-athlete. He is a great fit for WT and I look forward to watching his teams compete for years to come."

The Friona, Texas native returns to college football and the LSC, where he had previous coaching stints at Eastern New Mexico University and Abilene Christian University. Carthel was born in Dimmitt and raised in Friona, and as a kid, he found rides to Kimbrough Memorial Stadium on Saturdays to watch WT home games.

"I've always loved coming to WT to watch sports. I remember coming to basketball games to watch Mike Mitchell and Maurice Cheeks, but I fondly remember football games. I began watching WT when Pistol Pete Pedro played and then Duane Thomas and through the Joe Kerbel era. It was always a highlight to come from Friona to WT games. It's a great treat to be a part of the rich WT tradition.


"My goal is to put together a great staff, one that will be in it for the kids, and who are great recruiters. We're going to coach as hard as anybody in the LSC. We've got to evaluate the talent we have on campus now and figure out what we need to get to put a winning football team on the field in August."

Carthel graduated from ENMU with a bachelor's degree in physical education with a minor in mathematics in 1974 and his master's in physical education from ENMU in 1975. He played center/kicker for the Greyhounds from 1970-73.

Carthel was an assistant coach at the University of Texas El Paso from 1983-84, before he became the head coach at ENMU from 1985-1991. As a coach, Carthel helped ENMU move into Division II and transformed the Greyhounds into a competitive LSC school. In 1985, Carthel's first year at the helm, the Greyhounds were playing Texas A&I University (currently Texas A&M University-Kingsville) in the season finale for a share of the LSC title. Though they lost that game, the Greyhounds later won the conference crown in 1991, becoming the first team outside of Texas to win the LSC championship in the conference's 59 years of football.

In his seven years at ENMU, Carthel compiled a 44-28-1 (.610) ledger, winning seven or more games in four of those seven seasons, including opening the 1987 season with a 9-0 record and tying the school record for victories in a season. In five of Carthel's seven years, the Greyhounds were ranked in the Division II Top 20 Poll. Carthel was inducted into the ENMU Hall of Fame in 2001.

In January, 1992, Carthel resigned from coaching to return to Friona, where he farmed and raised his family, serving on the Friona school board for nine years. However, Carthel couldn't stay away from coaching very long, as he later became a volunteer coach for Abilene Christian, communicating with the coaches on the sideline from the press box.

His son Colby, who was a standout linebacker at Angelo State University, leading the Rams to the LSC South title in 1999, and joined the ACU staff alongside his father in 2000 and is presently still on the Wildcats' staff.

The elder Carthel coached at ACU until 2004, when he was named the head coach of the Dusters in their inaugural season in the Intense Football League. Amarillo won the IFL Championship last year, before the league disbanded after only one season. The Dusters joined the AFL2 this year and had a 2-1 record when Carthel resigned his post.

"The Amarillo Dusters' success really opened my eyes to fans' reaction to a winning football program in the Texas Panhandle and we hope to put just as an exciting program together here at WT that people can get excited about and enjoy watching," Carthel said. "There's been kind of a fold left behind by some alums, and we hope to bring some of that loyalty back and give everyone something to be proud of."

Carthel and his wife of 33 years, Cindy, have two adult children, Colby and Courtney. Colby is an assistant football coach at ACU and is married to Sarah (Butler) Carthel, an All-American volleyball player for the WTAMU Lady Buffs and currently an assistant coach for the ACU volleyball program. Courtney Burgoon is married to Andrew Burgoon, an assistant principal at Greenways/Westover Junior High School in Canyon, and have twin infant daughters, Kylie and Kyler.

The Buffaloes lost 15 seniors, but return 17 starters from last season's line-up (nine offensive, six defensive, two specialty), including four All-Lone Star Conference South honorees.

Headlining the returners is All-American offensive lineman Pat McCoy (senior-to-be/Fairfield, Calif.), who anchored a WTAMU offensive line that led the LSC with only eight sacks allowed in 531 attempts (an eye-popping average of one sack every 66.4 attempts).

Also returning are All-LSC South honorees and seniors-to-be fullback Dominique Bibben (Houston, Texas), wideout Tonae Martin (Aledo, Texas) and center Nick Ashley (Stratford, Texas).

WTAMU ended the season with a 2-8 ledger, with five of its losses by 10 points or less.

The Buffaloes were the top-rated passing offense in the LSC last season, ranking second in the nation with 350.4 ypg through the air, and were also the top-ranked total offensive team in the conference, piling up 438.7 ypg, finishing 18th in the country in total offense.

One of the goals of spring camp was trying to find a replacement for three-year starting quarterback Derek Maupin, who led one of the top offensive units in the nation and rewrote the WTAMU record book. Maupin left as the WTAMU career passing record holder and the total offense record setter with 8,366 yards, which would pass the old LSC record, but Southeastern Oklahoma's Drew Beard surpassed that mark this season as well, finishing with 9,684 career yards.

Junior-to-be Dalton Bell, a Canyon, Texas native, is the leading candidate to take over signal-calling duties, but will be challenged by University of Oklahoma junior transfer Hunter Wall in the fall, as well as Amarillo, Texas native, sophomore-to-be Jeremy Lunsford and redshirt freshman Keith Null, a Lampasas, Texas native.

WTAMU signed 22 players, including 12 junior college and three transfers. The Buffaloes' junior college signing class ranked 13th in the nation in all divisions of NCAA and second among Division II.

The Buffaloes open the 2005 season at New Mexico Highlands University on Aug. 25. WTAMU's home opener is Sept. 3, against East Central University at 6 p.m. at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium.

Complete 2005 WTAMU Football Schedule in PDF Format
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