As former Fort Worth Christian defensive coordinator Ross Roby takes over a Hyde Park program that’s trending in the right direction, Panthers fans hope Hyde Park is bringing in one winner to replace another.
Former Head Coach Phil Dawson had stabilized a program that had gone 0-10 and, if rumors were to be believed, was in danger of being discontinued before his arrival. While the Panthers weren’t powerhouses during Dawson’s tenure, they nonetheless went 19-14 and logged three-straight TAPPS playoff appearances.
Now Roby, whose teams were playoff regulars, looks to elevate Hyde Park past crosstown rival Regents and turn them into state contenders in their own right.
The 40-year-old Celina native has the pedigree, as would nearly anyone who played for a Bobcats program that won its record-tying ninth UIL state title just last year. After playing college ball at Tarleton State University, Roby became the secondary coach at Pilot Point High School before filling the same role at Liberty Christian. He eventually became the Warriors’ defensive coordinator until moving to Fort Worth Christian where he’d been the past two seasons.
Citing “the opportunity to lead a program,” Roby, along with his wife, Lisa, sons Xavier, Madden and Rhett, and daughters Aubrey, Elliott and Chandler, is ready for the challenge of taking Hyde Park to the next level.
A highly respected TAPPS school tucked off MOPAC in northwest Austin, Hyde Park plays football and baseball on a uniquely configured facility called “the Quarries.” It’s a name that conjures up images of the type of nose-to-the grindstone labor Roby hopes to inspire his squad to embrace.
His expectations: “For the program to fall in love with the process of hard work! Amen.”
That’s the way winners become winners.