Marble Falls boys basketball coach leaving for Tomball school
Boys basketball coach Matt Bailey is leaving Marble Falls High School to take the same position at Tomball Memorial High School, pending approval by the Tomball Independent School District Board of Trustees. Courtesy photo
STAFF WRITER JENNIFER FIERRO
Marble Falls High School boys basketball coach Matt Bailey has accepted the same position at Tomball Memorial High School, pending approval by the Tomball Independent School District Board of Trustees.
Bailey spent three years at Marble Falls, where he guided the Mustangs to a 17-15 record in 2018-19, an 18-14 record in 2017-18, and an 11-21 record in 2016-17.
The last time the Mustangs won 18 games in a season was in 2010-11, when they finished second in District 25-4A and won a bi-district championship over Austin Lanier.
Bailey’s Mustangs spent two seasons in District 26-5A with Dripping Springs, San Antonio Alamo Heights, Kerrville Tivy, and Boerne-Champion.
During the 2018-19 season, Marble Falls was in District 17-5A with Cedar Park, Leander Rouse, Pflugerville, and Pflugerville Connally.
“Doing research on my own, those are the first back-to-back winning seasons in Marble Falls since the 2004 and 2005 seasons,” Bailey said, “We’ve done some pretty good things here. We just kept missing playoffs because we’re in fifth or sixth place.”
Prior to coming to Marble Falls, Bailey spent seven seasons at Deer Creek High School in Edmond, Oklahoma, where he compiled a 112-65 overall record and guided the Antlers to two state tournament appearances.
Bailey said he is leaving Marble Falls a better coach than when he arrived.
“I tried to do my best to put our guys in a spot to be successful every night,” he said.
Tomball Memorial, opened eight years ago and located on the north side of Houston, has competed in Class 6A for the past three years.
Memorial finished 9-22 last year, but Bailey said the program has experienced players who are returning.
“I want to help them get over the hump and be successful in their district,” he said. “Marble Falls was 8-24 before I came. I’m not scared of the challenge of rebuilding the culture and the team. I like the challenges of it. They have good, hard-working kids, and I’m excited.”
Bailey hopes people think back on his time in Marble Falls positively.
“I gave everything I had to the kids, the school, the program, and the community,” he said. “I bought into the whole community. I’ll miss the relationships I built. I’ve loved every second of it.”
Marble Falls Independent School District posted the head basketball coach position April 18.
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Well, can you believe this? Now the head basketball coach is leaving! Anyone else see a pattern in this departure? Coach Bailey has two winning seasons in a row, has improved the program drastically, but he’s going to leave so that he can take over another program that went 9-22 this year? I’ll just keep saying it, this makes no sense!!! Why leave a team that he has built up to almost a 20 game winner in order to take over a bad program?
Coach Birdwell did similar things; he went 5-5, beat Burnet, beat the district champion, had a freshmen team that won district, and he’s leaving for no job in particular?
There are major issues in the leadership. It has to be because these are unexplainable and too redundant.
I’m hearing the head baseball coach could be next. Parents, do not ever gripe about a coach and their results because it’s evident nobody cares who comes or stays. Nobody asks anything and just assumes every coach leaving “loves” MF but they will leave anyway.
Where there’s smoke, there is fire. Too many coaches leaving with silly stories as to why. Smoke, lots of smoke here.