Feb 05, 2012
Where are they now?
June 29, 2010
PEARLAND — When Tony Heath came to Pearland High School as the new head coach in 1997 -- the former La Marque assistant coach knew that he faced the greatest challenge of his young coaching career.
Not only was this his first head coaching job -- after waiting in the wings for several years for this opportunity -- but he was taking over one of the losingest football programs in the state of Texas. He inherited a 17-game losing streak spanning back to 1995 when the Oilers registered their last win -- a 31-0 victory over Houston Austin in the third game of the season.
That 1995 team finished 2-8 and then the 1996 squad finished 0-10.
Heath didn’t promise a district championship or a winning season his first year. In fact - he realistically stated, “I just want to snap the losing streak and see my players get a taste of what it means to win.”
There was another thing that Heath inherited and that was very small fan support of his football team.
That was to be expected considering that looking back from 1990-to-1996 - prior to Heath’s arrival -- the Oilers posted a pathetic 6-63-1 mark with three of those years at 0-10 each.
When the Oilers played at home - the routine was simple. Watch Pearland get drilled in the first half -- watch the band present a splendid halftime show -- and then watch the majority of the crowd leave to go home after the band’s performance as Pearlanders couldn’t stand to watch another beating.
In fact - Pearland was known as a favorite homecoming opponent. Non-district and district coaches would look at their schedule to make room for the Oilers as their homecoming guests.
In Heath’s first season - the Oilers played six homecoming games counting their own. And Pearland lost all six -- including their own.
The 1997 season began with six straight losses to run the streak to 23 games.
But something happened in the seventh game of the season as the Oilers took inspriaton from a freshman running back by the name of Anthony Evans to register the first monumental win for Heath’s upstart Oilers.
Pearland beat the Pasadena Eagles 24-13 on Friday, October 17 at Prensner Stadium as Evans rushed for 178 yards and scored three touchdowns on runs of 3, 35, and 61 yards.
You would have thought that Pearland had won the Super Bowl. The fans ran out on the field and there were tears in the eyes of Heath and his coaching staff as he watched his players celebrate and finally see all of their blood, sweat, and tears translate into a win.
The players gathered together to stand in front of the band -- holding their helmets and heads up high -- and hearing the school fight song for the first time since 1995 as winners!
The team then gathered around coach Heath.
“Gentlemen, this is what it is all about! This is what we have been working for all year. Enjoy it! Take it all in! You did a great job!” Heath said.
Believe it or not - that was 13 years ago. Heath begins his 14th season at the helm of the Oilers and the turnaround has been one of the greatest in Texas football history.
Evans finished his high school career with 6,192 rushing yards while scoring 66 touchdowns. He was the No. 2 all-time leading Class 5A rusher behind Midland's Cedric Benson (UT) as both graduated in 2001. The two-time All-State running back led the Houston area in rushing his junior (2,055) and senior (2,056) years and was named the "Player of the Year" by the Houston Chronicle.
Evans became the first of several top running backs to put on the Pearland uniform over the past 13 years. They include Brandon Robertson (Northwestern), Fozzy Whittaker (UT), Kasey Carrier (New Mexico), and presently senior Dustin Garrison. But it was Evans who became the standard bearer for Heath and Co.
The winsome Evans was one of the most highly recruited players in Pearland history. He decided to stay close to home to star for the University of Houston while turning down over a dozen offers of Division I schools. He had over 1,300 yards rushing his sophomore year for UH and then suffered injuries his final two seasons with the Cougars.
After serving as an assistant coach at UH for over three years, Evans moved on to become the running backs coach at Texas City in 2008 and 2009.
Recently, Evans, 27, was invited to become the offensive coordinator at Clear Falls, the new high school opening this year with Clear Creek ISD.
"I am really excited about the opportunity to be on the ground floor with the new school," Evans said. "This is just another step in helping me achieve my ultimate goal of being a head coach some day."
However, Evans can't get away from his formative roots with coach Heath.
"Coach Heath taught me so much when I was at Pearland," Evans said. "Of course, I have worked with some of the finest offensive minds including former UH coach Art Briles (Baylor) and now coach Kevin Sumlin (UH).
But it was coach Heath and the assistant coaches at Pearland that made such a lasting impression on me."
Evans still recalled the inspirational message on "Potential" by former PHS assistant Jim Heathington.
"Coach Heathington spoke to us about 30 minutes and told us we weren't anything yet," Evans said. "He inspired us to become winners!"
Evans continued, "Coach Heath and his staff are unrivaled. They are the personification of excellence and their commitment stresses that it's a journey, a long road ahead, and if you believe, you can become successful."
The message from coach Heath to a young freshman is still just as real as it was when delivered almost 14 years ago. Now, Anthony Evans, a young and maturing coach, continues to pass on that same message to his players.