Football: Mansfield gets program going in changing times

Kirk Thor took over the Mansfield High football program four years intent on building a winning program.

To do so, he had to deal with a marked lack of history and tradition as far as the Tigers’ football fortunes were concerned.

Prior to Thor’s arrival in 2004, Mansfield High was best known for winning four consecutive Class 5A girls basketball state championships (1999-2002).

Football was at the other end of the spectrum, having made just six playoff appearances — only three since 1973 and none since 2000 — and never advancing beyond the first round. The Tigers earned their seventh trip to the football playoffs this season by finishing third in District 4-5A.

“As far as what we had to do four years ago, we went 8-2 (this season) and that tied the school record for the most wins in school history,” Thor said. “There’s not a lot of tradition here of going to the playoffs and winning games.”

The Tigers will get close-up view of a tradition-rich program Saturday when they face the No. 5 Permian Panthers at Brownwood’s Gordon Wood Stadium in a Class 5A Division I bi-district game.

“When we came in four years ago, we had to change a culture,” Thor said. “We tried to come in with high energy and positive attitudes and work on that mindset. This senior class is the first class we’ve had that’s been through our program for four years and those kids have really bought into the system and changed the culture. It’s gone from ‘I hope we win a game’ to ‘I expect to win a game.’ That’s been huge for us.

“I think the toughest thing when you take over a program is to change the attitudes and change the culture. Our coaches have worked hard and our kids have worked hard. I’m really proud of them for doing that and having a chance to get back to the playoffs.”

Thor and his staff have had to pull it all off in a school district that has experienced explosive growth in recent years. A one-high school district in 2001-02, the Mansfield ISD now has four high schools.

Summit opened in 2002, taking over the old Mansfield High (which is actually in Arlington) while Mansfield High moved to a new campus, the fifth in its history. Timberview opened in 2004 and Legacy opened at the start of the current school year.

“With dividing the lines (within the school district), it’s always tough because you take some kids out of your school,” Thor said. “We lost some kids to the new high school, Legacy, this year. When Timberview came in, they divided the lines.

“When you lose those young kids, you lose some continuity. Where the young kids would grow up saying ‘We want to be Tigers,’ now they might be Jaguars (Summit) or Broncos (Legacy) or Wolves (Timberview). We lost quite a few freshmen to Legacy this summer with the district lines (being redrawn). It’s a challenge to keep everybody going and keep your traditions strong, but you don’t have any choice. You have to keep fighting and keep going.”

Easing matters, Thor said, has been support of the MISD administration.

“First of all, it’s a great district,” he said. “It’s a district that’s very professional and cares about kids. I think there are high expectations here, but the administration is very supportive of kids and athletics. They’re outstanding and that makes the job a lot easier.”

With Mansfield High now located in the city of Mansfield, it is the other three schools that are benefiting most from the area’s growth.

Summit and Timberview also qualified for the playoffs this year, while Legacy won’t begin varsity competition in football until next year.

“We don’t see a ton of move-ins at Mansfield High,” Thor said. “I think more of the new kids are going to other schools. We have a lot of kids here who have been here and grown up in the program. There were some with district line changes this year, mostly junior varsity type of kids with the residence changes in the district and the lines, but not a lot.”

The biggest factor, Thor said, had been the ability and willingness to deal with such rapid expansion.

“I think any time there’s growth in a district, that’s great,” he said. “But any time there’s change people are a little apprehensive. You have to embrace change and say ‘Here’s what we’re going to do.’ I think a lot of times it can bring some positive things, new ideas.

“We’ve had to focus on the culture here and the attitude here. It’s been a long process, but it’s been a fun process. These are the goals we set when we got here and it’s taken us four years to do it, but it’s easier turn around a 22-foot ski boat than it is a big cruise liner. When a cruise liner’s going the wrong way and you need to turn it around, sometimes it takes a while. That’s where we are. It’s taken us four years to turn it around, but our kids have really bought in and done a great job of it.”