LUCAS, Texas — Legendary high school football coach Todd Dodge, who retired from Austin Westlake after winning his seventh state championship, is returning to the game and will take the head football coach and athletic director job at Lovejoy High School.
Dodge is one of the most successful coaches in the history of Texas high school football, winning four state championships at Southlake Carroll in the early 2000s, and then three straight championships with Westlake from 2019-2021.
Now he takes over a Lovejoy program that has fielded one of the top teams in the metroplex over the last few years.
Dodge was officially voted into the position at a special board meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. School leaders introduced Dodge as the new head coach in a press conference at 10 a.m. Saturday morning.
Dodge said he was asked to speak at the Lone Star clinic around this time last year and it sparked a desire to coach again.
"I definitely knew that I wanted to get back into coaching," Dodge said. "The two years that I've had off have been very, very good for me and for Elizabeth. But, I don't know who is more excited, her or me, because she grew up in this industry. She was in this industry way before me. The football stadium in Westlake is named after her father – Ebbie Neptune Field."
Dodge said the excellence of the program and proximity to family were factors that made the Lovejoy High School job one that he'd want to pursue.
Watch Dodge's introduction here:
After the press conference, WFAA spoke with Dodge 1-on-1 here:
Dodge will be coaching just up the road from his son Riley, who took over the Carroll program in 2018. The two coached against one another in the 2020 state championship game.
Dodge has a 233-72 record during his Texas high school football coaching career, with stops at Cameron, Carrollton Newman Smith, and Keller Fossil Ridge before he began his immensely successful seven-year run at Carroll.
He also coached for two years at Marble Falls, before he spent eight years with Westlake.
Dodge, who will turn 61 this year, will coach his 24th year of high school football this fall.