Hometown Hero: Billy Noonan on return to St. Pius X this year

Walking through the halls of St. Pius X High School, there are banners of Grant Gunnell, Gary Kubiak's retired No. 9 jersey placed in a display case along with a replica Vince Lombardi Trophy and the program's numerous state championship trophies.

Placed next to Gunnel's Built Ford Tough Texas Player of the Year trophy from last season sits the exact same award from 2007.

That was the year Billy Noonan won it. The same season Noonan guided the Panthers to their second-straight TAPPS State Championship.

"I call him the hometown hero," St. Pius X athletic director Jeff Feller said.

Fast-forward 12 years, Noonan is once again walking the halls of St. Pius X, but now as the head football coach of his alma mater.

"It's been one of those things you always think about, but when the opportunity presents itself it's almost like 'it's actually happening,'" Noonan said. "It's been fun to come back. A lot of the teachers are the same, my dad worked here and my little brother and sister graduated from here. You come back and reconnect with a lot of people, which is rewarding. All of those relationships you built you pick up like you haven't missed a beat."

Noonan first walked through the doors of St. Pius X in 2004 as a freshman quarterback.

That same fall, the kid grew into the starting quarterback who took the team from a 2-5 start to an eventual berth in the TAPPS state title game.

"He was a gamer even at an early age," Blake Ware, who was the St. Pius X Offensive Coordinator when Noonan played, said. "That year we started 2-5 and we went on an epic run. We lost in the state championship game, but he got us there.

"Even at a young age he watched film with me. He was a student of the game and did everything he was coached to do. He did a great job for us."