As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of America, we're reminded of the patriotic phrase, "As American as Apple Pie." But, when it comes to our Lone Star State, you might hear "Don't Mess With Texas", "It's a Whole Other Country," or "Everything's Bigger in Texas." Meet Coach Travis Reeve-- born in San Antonio to native Texans, raised in a Texas coach's family, and a career that stretches deep into the heart of Texas. The Reeve family is well-known in our beloved state, and has produced several coaches in the Hill Country, the Metroplex, East Texas, the Gulf Coast, and the Coastal Plains. GRIT Ministries reached out to Coach Reeve to trace those Reeve roots...
Tell us about your family. My wife, Destiny Reeve, and I have been married for 27 years, and we have three children, and four grandchildren. Destiny is a longtime Pre-K teacher. Our oldest son Blake, and his wife Sydney, have three daughters; Ryleigh (3), Raegan (1), and Rowan (newborn). They live in Tyler where Blake coaches at Tyler Chapel Hill HS. Our daughter, Ainsley Barta, is married to Michael, and they have a new baby girl, Briar. Ainsley is our head volleyball coach and assistant softball here at El Campo HS, and Michael is an assistant football/basketball/baseball coach on our staff. Our youngest son, Colt Reeve, is going into his senior year of high school here in El Campo. My parents are Mark and Jan Reeve. My dad is a retired football coach, who was inducted into the THSCA Hall of Honor in 2007, and my mom is a retired teacher & principal. I have one brother, Charlie Reeve, who is the head football coach and athletic director at Calallen HS. He and his wife Courtney have three boys; Ryder, Bear, and Jace.
Where did you grow up, attend high school and college? I was born in San Antonio, and grew up there through my 7th grade year while my dad was the defensive coordinator at Clark HS. At the end of my 7th grade year, my dad accepted the head football coach position at Victoria High School. I graduated high school there in 1995, along with my wife Destiny. We were high school sweethearts. After playing football for one season at Southern Arkansas University, I transferred to play at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State), where Destiny and I both ended up graduating from with our bachelor's degrees.
Take us on a journey of your coaching career.
Assistant Coaching Stops:
Victoria HS, Plano West Senior HS, San Antonio MacArthur HS, Cuero HS, Churchill HS
2004 3A Div I Football State Finalists (Cuero)
2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 3A Football State Semifinalists (Cuero)
2005, 2007 3A Track State Champions (Cuero)
Head Coaching Stops:
Cuero HS (2012-2020)
2018 4A Div II Football State Champions
2015 4A Div II Football State Semi-Finalists
2017, 2017 4A Div II Football State Quarterfinalists
District Coach of the Year - 3 times, 2018 4A State Coach of the Year, Area Coach of the Year
New Caney HS (2020-2023)
2022 Undefeated 6A District Champions (first in school history, most wins in school history)
2022 THSCA Region 5 6A Coach of the Year, District Coach of the Year, Houston Touchdown Club Coach of the Year Finalist
2021 North Houston FCA Coach of the Year
El Campo HS (2023-current)
2024, 2025 Bi-District Finalist
2024 Grant Teaff Coaching Beyond the Game Team Award Winner
2023 4A Div I Area Finalist
Overall Head Coaching Record: 117-56, Playoff qualifiers 13 of 14 seasons as head coach
Elected THSCA Region 5 Board of Directors (2024-current)
What motivated you to become a coach, and who was your mentor? I grew up a coach's kid, and was blessed to get to be around some of the best coaches I know. My elementary school was right next to Clark HS, so I walked over after school every day and got to be at every practice, every meeting, every game. My heroes growing up weren't college or pro teams, it was the Clark Cougars. I wanted to be like the players and coaches I saw everyday. As I started getting older, I recognized how much the coaches cared about their players. Many of the players saw their coaches as mentors and role models. From the X's and O's to the camaraderie and relationships I witnessed between everyone associated with the team, I knew at an early age that I wanted to be a coach!
My dad, Mark Reeve, was my greatest mentor in coaching and in life. Not only did I get to play for him in high school, I coached with
him for ten years. I started my career with him at Victoria HS and Plano West. Then, to SA MacArthur HS for two years before reuniting with him in Cuero as his offensive coordinator for six years. I learned a great deal from him on how to run a program, work with kids, coaches, and parents. I learned the ins and outs of our offensive and defensive schemes. Throughout my head coaching career, he continues to be a source of wisdom and experience that I can draw from.
What is your favorite part of being a coach? What has been your biggest challenge? My favorite part of being a coach is the relationships you build with the players, coaches, and their families. In many cases, those relationships last a lifetime. Recently, I was honored with being the officiant in marrying one of our former players and his bride. My son-in-law was our quarterback on our state championship team. Many of our players have gone on to be successful in their careers, and it's very rewarding to continue to be a part of their lives long after they graduate. I also enjoy the process of building a team each year because each group is different. You have to figure out how all the pieces best fit together and to bring them together as a cohesive unit, all pulling for each other towards a common goal. The longer I coach, the more I truly enjoy the offseason and practices because that is where everything all comes together.
My biggest challenge is probably more of a personal challenge than anything else. In leading our program, I can very easily become consumed with everything that goes into the job, which can take away from more important things in my life like faith and family. Throughout my career, it is a constant balancing act between giving attention to every detail in our program necessary to be successful at a high level while still devoting time and attention to my faith and being there for family. Over the years, I have been at my best when my priorities (i.e. time) have been properly balanced, starting with faith, family and then football. When that gets flipped, I am not very good for anyone.
What makes a great coach? A great coach is someone who has the ability to relate and build relationships with all different types of kids who come from different backgrounds, skill sets, and motivation levels. Before you can ever be effective in coaching a player, you must first create that buy-in mentality. They need to know how much you care about them as a person. The best coaches I know are the ones who the kids will run through a wall for because they have built such a strong bond. They've demonstrated a genuine love for the individual, and have figured out what truly motivates them.
From there, a great coach has the ability to recognize the strengths of that player's individual skill set and put him/her in a position to maximize those skills to best contribute to the team. That formula applies to building an overall team as well. First, you must establish a culture where everyone generally cares about one another. They need to be willing to play and sacrifice for each other striving for one common goal. The other piece of building a team is determining what the individual players can and can't do. Put them in positions that best serve the good of the team, and then create a strategic identity based upon what that particular team does best and puts them in the best position for success.
In retrospect, what advice would the veteran Coach Travis Reeve tell the first-year Coach Travis Reeve?
Prioritize what matters most and devote time to it.
the team and character within the individual players. I got into this profession to make a difference in kids' lives. I learned that from some of my former coaches. It's important to devote time to these athletes because it doesn't just happen by chance. The best teams are the ones who care about each other the most, are willing to sacrifice for the good of the team. Players who aren't selfish and hold each other to a high standard of excellence. That is not common. It requires an intentional plan and time to create and develop. If we can get that right, the wins will take care of themselves.
Also, don't allow the stress of outside expectations to steal your joy and passion for what you do as a coach. In my first three years as a head coach, I was consumed with doing everything possible from an organizational and strategic standpoint to win games. I was the head coach at a place where state championships were expected. I became consumed with trying to make sure we were as prepared as possible to win. I lost my joy and passion for building the relationships and the kind of culture necessary to achieve the success that we wanted. My priorities were out of whack, so my impact in the areas I knew were most important were minimal. When I quit worrying about the wins, and started devoting time to building relationships and making a difference with kids, our impact grew substantially and so did the wins.
Can you share how your walk with Jesus Christ has helped you in your career? How has your faith grown?
I would be a worthless mess without Christ in my life. He's my rock and source of strength in times of adversity and peace in the midst of chaos. Any success we've had throughout my career has been because of the grace and blessing of Jesus Christ. Over the years, I have learned that just as a coffee pot can only produce coffee when it is plugged into the electrical outlet, I must be plugged into the ultimate Power Source, Jesus Christ, in order to be the kind of coach that God has called me to be.
I wish I could say that has come easy for me, or that I have always been faithful to devote time to Him first each day, but that has not always been the case. When I first became a head coach, I took over a storied program in Cuero where there was a tradition and expectation of success at the highest levels each year. At the time, Cuero was not competing at that level, but we were determined to get back to competing for championships. In doing so, I began to put God on the back burner, and as a result, lost sight of why I got into coaching in the first place. While we were getting better each year in the win column, I was hard to work with and I made a minimal impact in the lives of our kids because I had become a transactional coach.
At the beginning of my fourth season, we had several starters out with injury and we started the season 2-4. Personally, I was exhausted and broken, knowing that my priorities were out of line, and I was not plugged into God on a daily basis like I needed to be. As I began to pray to ask God to take control of the situation, He revealed something to me that set me free from the stress and pressure I was putting on myself that was taking me away from Him. I was trying to control the outcome, and do things in my own power without letting God be in control. I would pray to God and ask Him to take my burdens, and He was willing. However, I would take them right back upon myself when I started worrying about what the outcome might be. During this cycle of giving my worries to God and then taking them back and trying to control the outcomes myself, God made clear to me something in a way I had never realized before that changed my entire perspective. He impressed upon me that, even if we were to go 0-10 and I was to get fired, it would only be because He would allow it to happen because He would have something better planned for me moving forward.
So, talk about lifting a weight off my shoulders and freeing me from the bondage of stress, pressure, and worry! God changed my whole outlook at that moment. He taught me that true faith is not just praying to ask Him to take on our burdens in life, but more importantly, it is trusting Him with the outcomes, even if it means going 0-10. That 0-10 season could be the catalyst to something new and special God has planned for your life. From that point forward, I prayed that God would restore my relationship with Him so that He might use me for His glory and not mine. I also prayed that He would restore our season in the way He saw fit, whether it be through the relationships and impact we had with our kids and coaches or even in the win column so that He might be glorified.
Defying all odds, our team finished 9-6 that season as state semi-finalists. It was the beginning of a total change in our program and a time of spiritual growth for me. What I wanted for our program but couldn't do in my own strength, God did infinitely and abundantly far beyond what we ever hoped for. This continued in other head coaching stops I've had since then. God is good, and He is worthy of it all! He has great plans for us, and wants to use us for His Kingdom and His glory. First, we must plug ourselves into His power daily, and then we have to let Him lead and trust Him with the outcomes without worry or fear so He can use us according to His designed purpose.
How do you model Christ-like leadership to your staff, players, and opponents? I am human, and those who have coached with me or been on our teams know that I am far from perfect. I think the most important thing we try to do is not shy away from having Christ and His example. The attributes of love, servant leadership, self-discipline, respect, unselfishness, and character as a core part of who we are as a program. Whether it be directly through post-practice or pre and post game team prayers, gameday devotionals, FCA, or indirectly through the core values we teach and the character lessons we devote time to, we want Christ's fingerprints all over our program. Just as Christ came to serve, we too must serve, love, and show respect to everyone within our program. To be brief, in 2017, we decided that we wanted to fully devote ourselves to what we believed as a staff was the main reason why we coach,
has used for His glory!
How does prayer or scripture play a role in your preparation, motivation, or mindset as a coach?
If I don't consistently start my day in prayer and in God's Word, I am not very good for my family, our coaching staff, or our team. Left to my own abilities, I can become selfish very quickly, consumed by the job I am doing or bumps in the road that are inevitable in coaching or life in general. I am also not a very effective communicator, relationship builder, or motivator without the presence of God's joy, patience, love, power, and wisdom in my life. So if I am going to be the husband, father, friend, and coach that I want to be, I have to spend time with God daily in prayer and in Bible study to allow Him to fill me with the unselfish love, joy and wisdom that I lack on my own. In His strength, I can better face the challenges of coaching and trust Him with the outcomes so that I do not get weighed down with things that are outside of my control.
(Phil. 4:13)
Any favorite post-game meal? My favorite post-game meal is whatever my wife, and the rest of our coaches' wives, have planned for our after game family get-togethers. The meal is always great, but it is the time spent with all of our coaches and their families that is special. We all share in a profession that is truly unique, and the best times are when we get to share it together as one big coaching family!
Which athlete(s) did you admire and follow as a child? My favorite players growing up were the Clark Cougars, where my dad was the defensive coordinator. Guys like Jeff Robbins, Byron Hooper, Josh Larocca, Tim Brown, Tony Alvarez, Steve Collinsworth, Justin Still, Orlando Dehoyos, Jon Oefinger, Tim Vordenbaumen, Clint Sanderson, Andy Hunter, and many others that covered a 13-year span at Clark. Those were the guys I wanted to be like! Now that I am older, I truly appreciate all of them allowing a little kid like me to hang around them and be a part of their teams. In doing so they made my childhood special, and one that most sports-loving kids never get to experience in such a unique way.
Who are your favorite sports teams? I have been a lifelong Cowboys and Spurs fan, along with the Astros. Having coached in the Houston area for the past seven years, I have become a Texans fan as well. At the collegiate level, I like all the Texas teams, but am a Longhorn fan the most.