Liberty Hill's Kent Walker taking over as head football coach at Blanco
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Liberty Hill head football coach Kent Walker is moving on.
Walker is expected to be named the athletic director and head football coach at Blanco following the school district's board meeting Friday. The meeting agenda indicates that it will be discussed in executive session.
Matt Stepp of Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine first reported the hire.
Walker will take over for Jamie Dixon, who left Blanco for the same position at Edna. Blanco finished 7-4 overall last season, and went undefeated in District 13-3A Division II at 4-0 before losing to Van Vleck 48-41 in the bi-district playoff round.
Walker took over the Liberty Hill program just before the 2020 playoffs following his brother Jeff's death. The Panthers lost in the state semifinals to Crosby 62-61 that season, and in four full seasons, Walker racked up a 45-13 record with three semifinal appearances and a state title game appearance in 2021, falling to Dallas South Oak Cliff. Including the 4-1 mark during the 2020 playoff run as the interim head coach, Walker's record was 49-14.
"Thank you, Coach Walker, for everything you have done for the Liberty Hill community," a post on the Liberty Hill football team's X account said. "You have positively impacted so many lives here, and we will miss you so much! Good luck in the next chapter of your life!"
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Walker's move is part of a flurry of coaching changes in the area. Vernon Hughes is leaving Pflugerville Weiss for Mesquite Horn, Jason Cecil takes over for Bernard Riley at Austin High, Derek Ward replaces Anthony Wood at Westwood and Eli Reinhart will coach at Hutto following Will Compton.
Doug Warren announced his retirement at Wimberley and Phil Dawson, a former NFL kicker and Texas Longhorns standout, stepped down from his post at Hyde Park. Collin Williams, formerly the offensive coordinator for Austin LBJ, is the new coach at Del Valle and Bryan Vardeman takes over at Cedar Ridge. Elgin's Heath Clawson is now the head coach at Woodville, and Bill Robertson is now at East View after serving as the defensive coordinator for A&M Consolidated.