GOLDTHWAITE — His Goldthwaite program battled through a lack of experience and depth after he inherited a 1-8 program in 2019.  It endured the COVID lockdown at the worst possible time for a rebuilding team and the lack of quality weight training it desperately needed. 

Through it all, coach Keith Virdell’s Eagles had a combined 5-16 record —not exactly earth-shattering for a program what was 10-3 as recently as 2015 and had won a state championship as recently as 2009.

What some forget, however, is that Virdell was virtually starting from scratch when he arrived at GHS from Sudan, where he had posted a 9-2 mark in his first and only season there.