VYPE’s “Fresh Faces” series introduces new Head Football Coaches in the Austin area…
Go back in time roughly two years ago. As Vandegrift’s play-by-play broadcaster on VYPE Live, this reporter was meeting Vipers head coach Drew Sanders to record my weekly pregame interview and noticed one of the Vipers’ freshman teams was playing Legacy Ranch.
“Where the heck is Legacy Ranch?” I asked. And that’s when I learned that Liberty Hill ISD’s new high school had opened its doors.
Two years ago.
That’s how long Wranglers head coach Tim Knicky has patiently waited to make his debut as a varsity head coach. With just freshmen that first year, then freshmen and sophomores playing a “freelance” mix of JV and smaller varsity teams last year, Knicky will finally get to lead the Austin area’s newest high school football team onto the turf in a pristine new stadium against Manor New Tech on August 28.
“It most certainly helps to have tremendous kids,” Knicky summarized the patience required to build a brand-new varsity football program from scratch. “Our guys have impressed me from literally the first day I met them as 8th graders. They show up, work hard and win. I am proud to be their coach every day.”
Leading a bunch of freshmen onto a middle school field as their high school was still being built had to feel…different. Knicky, after all, had previously experienced football on some pretty big stages. Born in Austin, Knicky played high school ball for the Wranglers’ probable future district foe, Cedar Park. He then played at THE Stephen F. Austin University (his emphasis) before he was “blessed to play a bit” with the Packers, Jets and Bengals in the NFL.
Even as he began his high school coaching journey, he did so at some fairly high-profile programs. He began with five years as the defensive line/special teams coordinator at Georgetown HS, followed by a year as safeties/special teams coordinator at his alma mater, Cedar Park. He levelled up for four years as the defensive coordinator at Willis in the greater Houston area before coming back to Georgetown for two more seasons as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator.
Then came the move to Legacy Ranch where he’s toiled under the radar for two years, building Wranglers Football from the ground up. Still young at 38, Knicky is quick to share the credit for the progress so far.
“We have hired a truly phenomenal staff,” he declared. “Our coaches have worked through opening in a middle school, to playing varsity with sophomores, to moving into our awesome new place and have tackled every challenge and we are where we are because of what they do for our kids on a daily basis.”
Attracted to Legacy Ranch by the very prospect of starting a program from the beginning, combined with Liberty Hill ISD’s reputation and “being a part of this awesome community,” Knicky finds himself, along with his wife, Brittany, and their two daughters, (Colby 6 and Peyton 4), on the cusp of his first true varsity season as a head coach. And he made it clear he didn’t expect his inaugural Wranglers squad to be graded on a curve.
“We expect to win,” he bluntly declared. “These kids and this community don’t know any other way. We have a lot of staff that are here because of the culture and traditions that Liberty Hill is known for. We expect to add to that tradition starting immediately.
“I could not be more excited to showcase our kids, this community, and this awesome facility on August 28th!” he added.
Coach Tim Knicky and his Wranglers will get their chance to do precisely that in just a couple of short weeks. And it seems pretty likely that folks won’t be asking, “Where’s Legacy Ranch?” for much longer.