Paetow head football coach Lonnie Teagle, middle, is pictured with players at VYPE's Media Day in June at Tomball ISD Stadium. Sources confirmed Tuesday that Teagle has stepped down from his position.
Paetow head football coach Lonnie Teagle stepped down from his position Tuesday during an inquiry by Katy ISD Police into an allegation of inappropriate contact with a student.
Assistant coach David Hicks Sr. has been named interim head coach.
Teagle was in his first year at the helm of the Panthers. Paetow is 3-3 overall, 2-2 in District 19-6A play.
Teagle’s Twitter and Facebook accounts are no longer active. Katy ISD’s Paetow coaches directory shows the campus athletic coordinator, which Teagle served as, as “TBD.”
Katy ISD said in a statement released to VYPE Tuesday afternoon:
"The Katy ISD Police has investigated an allegation concerning a former head football coach. The individual resigned during the inquiry and the case has since been referred to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
The safety of Katy ISD students and staff is the District’s top priority. Whenever the District is made aware of an allegation, the accused is immediately removed from their District assignment(s), while District personnel work swiftly with law enforcement and other agencies to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure the safety and well-being of all students."
Offensive coordinator Trey Payne is also no longer with the program.
The coaches directory states Matt Rhodes as the new offensive coordinator.
Defensive coordinator Stephen Howard remains.
Teagle took over a Paetow program in the spring that won the Class 5A-Division I state title last year, the second school in Katy ISD to win a football state championship. He was hired following the departure of B.J. Gotte to Pearland High School.
It was a homecoming of sorts for Teagle, a Missouri City native and 2001 graduate of Fort Bend Elkins High.
“Our family has desired to come back home and back to the Houston area where all of our family is,” Teagle said at the time of his hiring. “This is an unbelievable opportunity to come to Paetow, where they’re coming off winning a state championship, in Katy ISD, one of the premier districts in the state of Texas. It was a no-brainer.”
Teagle spent the last two seasons as offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Denton Ryan. He was hired as running backs coach in 2019 before being promoted in the summer of 2020. He helped the Raiders to the Class 5A-Division I state runner-up finish in 2019 and the state championship in 2020.
Hicks Sr., a former standout linebacker at Grambling State who spent time in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs, is the father of Paetow senior defensive end David “DJ” Hicks Jr., a five-star recruit, Texas A&M commit and the No. 9 overall prospect in the nation for the Class of 2023.
Hicks Sr. has also been an assistant coach at Allen High School and defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Morton Ranch High School, where Hicks Jr. spent the first two years of his high school career.
Paetow plays Cinco Ranch (5-2, 4-1 district) in a game with considerable District 19-6A playoff implications at 7 p.m. Friday at Rhodes Stadium in Katy.
