But this time might be different.
Born in Fort Worth, the 48-year-old Walraven grew up in Alvarado and played high school ball at Alvarado High School. Following a collegiate career spent as a triple option quarterback at D2 Eastern New Mexico University where he also played baseball, he immediately went into coaching as a receiverβs coach at Kennedale as soon as he graduated. From there, he spent seven years as the offensive coordinator and five more years as the head coach and athletic director at Grandview. He went to Cleburne for five years before returning to his hometown of Alvarado, where he turned the Indians into a 4A powerhouse and offensive juggernaut.
With that full circle moment of coaching his alma mater in the rearview mirror, one gets the sense that Huttoβs carousel might stop with Walraven.
βIβve been a part of four rebuilds and I wanted to get somewhere this time when I made the move to come in, and it wasnβt necessarily a rebuild on the field,β Walraven explained. βThereβs some things we need to get better at, obviously, to do what we want to do, but coming to Hutto, the talentβs there. Weβve got to put it with execution and effort, and weβve got a great opportunity in front of us.
Walraven inherits a program that lit up the scoreboard last year on the way to its first home playoff win in six years. While inheriting a high-powered offense may have influenced Walravenβs decision to come to leave his metroplex roots for the Austin area, it wasnβt the only factor.
βJohnson Countyβs a good place,β Walraven emphasized. βIt was great to my family, growing up there and the majority of my coaching career was there. But I wanted to get out and get challenged and see some of Texas. Austinβs an area where me and my wife have always felt would be a great place to be and thatβs what itβs been so far and weβre very excited about the opportunity in Hutto.
βI love to be challenged. I love to be comfortable like everybody else, but I know in that comfort zone, I have a tough time growing. So, youβve gotta get out of that comfort zone at that point and thatβs what weβre doing here.β
He was also quick to commend a Hutto ISD administration that was likely as ready for stability as heβs eager to provide it, starting with Hutto ISD superintendent Jeni Neatherlin.
βSheβs very supportive of athletics. Does a lot of things to really push athletics, so thatβs part of it,β Walraven confirmed. βCoach (Will) Compton, great athletic director. Heβs been there and done that on the football side, so having good, solid administration, elite administrationβ all combined to attract Walraven to take over at Hutto.
Compton had taken over as head coach when Brad LaPlante became Hutto ISD athletic director in 2022, then became the AD himself when LaPlante left for Montgomery ISD. Eli Reinhart came in last year from North Crowley, only to take a collegiate position and open a door that Walraven was happy to walk through. But he understands the impact that revolving door can have on young student athletes.
βI think thatβs always a challenge, especially for these seniors,β he agreed. βWhen I first got here and started talking to them, you could see it in their eyes. You know, βHere we go again.β You know? But thatβs part of it.
βI told them itβs about them anyway. Theyβre the ones that the focal point is on, regardless of whoβs here (as the coach). We donβt have a lot of time. I was fortunate to get in here at the end of February and start building that relationship and trust factor to hopefully let them see who we are as people and not just coaches. Itβs a tough situation when you have that but at the same time, youβve got talented kids and intelligent kids and once they can see that youβre gonna build those relationships with them and care about βem off the field, it tends to come together pretty quickly.β
It will have to come together fast for Walraven and the Hippos with the first game just weeks away. And he knows itβs important to get off to a good start in a newly configured District 24-6A in which five of the seven teams were playoff teams last season.
βOur mentality is, weβve gotta come out of the gate strong and like weβve been here for two or three years already as coaches, so the pace of everything in our minds is different than what the real timeline is showing. So, weβre definitely going to be thinking ahead to the game. Weβve got a great challenge that first week with Harker Heights. Weβve gotta be ready for it and we fully anticipate to be successful there. With the talent we have and the experience we have, we donβt have to sit here and go, βLetβs gel for five to six weeks.β Weβve gotta go! So, thatβs the expectation and thatβs the mentality weβve gotta have.
βWe want to make a long playoff run and ultimately be playing at AT&T,β he continued. βI know a lot of people wanta say that, but not everyone is blessed with the opportunity to really have that true opportunity. Youβve got to have different pieces fall into place. One is, youβve gotta believe it. Two is, youβve got to have some talent. Youβve got to have the effort and the work that goes into what that needs to happen and youβve gotta stay healthy, So, weβre in control of a lot of that; some of it weβre not. So, the things we are in control of and that weβve been blessed with, weβve got to take it and run with it and make the most of that opportunity. Leave it out on the field, attack and get to Thanksgiving and anything happens at that point.β
So, for now, at least, the carousel has stopped in Hutto, and Coach Casey Walraven, his wife of 22 years, Abby, who he met in junior high school, their son Rex, going into the 7th grade, and daughter, Liv, a 4th-grader, are set to embark on this, his 25th year in coaching and education.
βThe main thing is, thereβs a lot of great people around here. I appreciate everybody at Hutto, being so welcoming. Itβs been a lot of change for them the last few years, so I appreciate their patience with another change and accepting of our family and our new coaches. Itβs going to be an exciting time and would love to have as many people out supporting Hutto Football as possible.β
