When the Austin High Maroons defeated Bowie last year to clinch their first playoff appearance since 2020, it marked a rare opportunity to emerge from years in the post-season wilderness. Granted they faced off against eventual 6A D2 state champion Vandegrift, so their post-season journey was short. But they had at least reached the dance again.
The Maroons will turn to a coaching veteran and familiar face in Jason Cecil to try to make a meaningful playoff run in 2025.
Entering his 30th season as a coach, the 51-year-old Cecil brings a wealth of experience to the table. He also has a good sense of the state of Austin High Football, as he’s served the past two seasons as defensive coordinator under former head coach Bernard Riley. Now he’s in charge of the Maroons.
“I love our student athletes at Austin High and we have an outstanding community that supports our teams and our coaches,” Cecil states.
If the name sounds familiar to Austin area high school football fans, Cecil was the head coach at McCallum for two years and at Pflugerville Connally for nine years prior to joining the Austin High staff in 2022.
Born in Greeley, Colorado, Cecil played linebacker at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, then coached the same position at his alma mater for three years. That led to an 8-year run as the defensive coordinator at DC Dumas High School, then five years as a defensive coordinator at Stony Point before taking over at McCallum.
Cecil might be the only “new” head coach to be a grandpa as he and his wife Lana, their daughter Alyssa and her husband Garrett Lee all enjoy grandson Kase. But the seasoned veteran hopes that eventually, even in a district dominated for years by Westlake and Lake Travis, his Maroons will be competing for district titles instead of merely battling for the “last spot in the playoffs.”
“Our goals are to continue to build a top-flight program here at Austin High and develop our student athletes to be leaders in our community.”
If three decades of coaching has taught Cecil anything, it’s that there’s much more to high school football than simply wins and losses – even as Austin High’s program appears to be trending in the right direction.
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