New Marble Falls soccer coach Rick Hoover sets big team goals

JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF

MARBLE FALLS — Before accepting the job to be the boys head soccer coach at Marble Falls High School, Rick Hoover was drawn to the area.

And not just because he worked with former Mustangs coach Rusty Oglesby at Frisco Wakefield, where the two guided the boys soccer team to the 2010 Class 4A state title.

His grandparents, Milton and Dean Scott, owned a lakehouse in the city for about four years a few decades ago.

“From about 12 to 15 (years old), we spent summers here skiing,” he said. “I always loved the area.”

Once he started a family, Hoover brought his wife, Nattlie, and children, Megan, Macy and Hayden, at least once a year for vacations. The couple have been married for 24 years.

So when he found out athletic director Todd Dodge was looking for a new coach after Michael Nave resigned to go to Pflugerville High, Hoover applied.

And during another family vacation, this time to Disney World, Hoover’s phone rang. It was Dodge, who wanted to set up an interview.

“The day I got back, I drove here,” he said. “I had no time to communicate with Rusty. I called him afterward. It was just ironic that he had coached here (about a decade ago.)”

Hoover’s excitement for being at Marble Falls has only increased since accepting the job. And his goals are to guide the Mustangs to the heights he helped Wakefield reach: winning championships.

“Every year, we go pretty deep in the playoffs (at Wakefield), and we have a lot of good players,” he said. “To have a great program, you have to have good players. We were blessed in Frisco. We had a lot of depth, we have a soccer community, we had a pretty thorough program, which started in our middle school. We were very involved in it and placed a lot of priority.”

Because of that success at Wakefield, Hoover is starting a program at Marble Falls Middle School later this semester. He and varsity assistant coach Chuck Woods will coach the players, he said, with the goal of finding a knowledgeable coach to eventually take over.

“If I have a formula that’s working, there’s no reason not to try it again,” he said. “By the time those kids get to high school, they know the program, they know the expectations, they know the coach, and, more than anything, I want these kid in the middle school coming to the high school wanting to be Mustang soccer players. If we can create that, it’ll do wonders for our program.”

As for the high school program, Hoover sent a thanks to Nave.

“I certainly feel very fortunate to have inherited a good program from coach Nave,” he said. “We have kids, and we’re deep. He did a great job with it. That was a huge advantage.

“They’re some of the hardest-working kids I’ve had,” he added. “I want to challenge them in practice. These kids can do so much with the ball. We’ll mix the discipline with creativity.”

Hoover sees many similarities between Frisco and the Cedar Park area, which makes up the majority of the district competition for the Mustangs in soccer. Both areas are known for having athletes who play the sport year-round.

“Everyone looks at the schedule and puts a check mark in the win column by Marble Falls,” he said. “But we still get to line up and play soccer. One thing that’s different about our kids — and I like this — is our kids play soccer every day. They play pick-up games, and they play because they love the game.”

Hoover said he believes his strength is getting the most out of players.

“You’re not always going to have the most talent,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean you can’t win. I will not coach effort; that is expected. I expect my kids to lay it on the line. If we get beat, we get beat. I can swallow it if I know my kids have laid it on the line. If you get that level of consistency, you’re going to do very well.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com