Domino Effect

According to the record books, the world record for the largest number of dominoes toppling is 4,345,027, set Nov. 14 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands.

Closer to home, the domino effect of five football coaching changes in the area in a span of about two months this spring didn’t set any official records, but the ripple was similar.

By the time the final domino hit the ground, the impact was felt in the Amarillo Independent School District and the Canyon ISD and from Moore County to Kerr County in South Texas.

It was arguably the biggest coaching shakeup on the gridiron in these parts since at least 1999 when a chain reaction led to coaching changes at Plainview, Borger, Palo Duro and River Road — and probably netted a tidy profit for moving van rental companies.

And the coaches involved never saw it coming.

“It was unique,” Tascosa coach Ken Plunk said.

“I didn’t really see it happening this way,” Pampa coach Heath Parker said.

“I didn’t really expect it,” Randall coach Bryan Wood said.

“I had no idea it would turn out that way. It was kind of amazing,” said Eastland linebackers/quarterbacks coach Andy Cavalier, who started the massive marathon of moves.

All have new jobs, thanks to the dominoes falling the way no one expected.

The First Move

The first domino fell March 26, when Cavalier resigned after three seasons as head coach at Class 4A Pampa.

“I really felt it was just the right time,” said Cavalier, who made his decision after visiting former Pampa assistant Brian Hulett, the head coach at Class 2A Eastland. “We were driving back from Corpus Christi and stopped in Eastland to visit Brian. We drove across the entire state of Texas, through town after town. I felt God was telling me that this is a big state with a lot of schools and there are other options.”

This created a significant opening at one of the larger schools in the area.

Once the Pampa ISD school board met in April, it took only about three minutes, though, to name Cavalier’s successor. Parker, who spent the past four seasons as the head man at Tascosa, was returning home.

“Was it a hard decision? Yes and no,” said Parker, a 1990 Pampa grad who played for Cavalier’s late father, Dennis, and led the Harvesters to consecutive postseason berths in 2003-04. “We were at a really great place at Tascosa and liked the community.

“Pampa is our hometown, though. You know everyone and you look forward to raising your kids here. It is a single-high-school community.”

Crosstown Move

Parker’s decision to return to his old stomping grounds meant the Rebels needed a head coach, something no one foresaw.

They didn’t have to look far — just to the south at 5800 Attebury Road. In another surprise, Plunk left Randall after two seasons and back-to-back District 3-4A titles.

“It was a difficult decision because of the relationships that had been made,” Plunk said. “I felt good about the things we were doing at Randall. I was happy at Randall. You are faced with a decision, though, at some point, and things aren’t always black and white. We made the right decision.”

Moving Up

The Raiders, with a strong winning tradition, were the ones now without a leader.

After the CISD sifted through more than 60 applicants, Wood was named Randall head coach in May.

Wood arrived from Sunray, where he had playoff success during two different stints with the Bobcats.

Ironically, Wood was also head coach at Pampa in 2005, making him the only coach to have worked at three of the four dominoes.

“It was hard to leave Sunray,” Wood said. “You build relationships with kids and you get to know them. It can be a difficult thing to leave. At a school like Randall, though, you have more than double the number of kids, and it takes more time to develop relationships, for you and your assistants.”

The last domino fell — at least in the area — later that month when James McAlister took over at Sunray, arriving from Class 1A Center Point in South Texas.

Now that the dust has finally settled, all the coaches are happy in their new homes.

“The timing of the whole thing, it being late in the school year and the characters involved, that was the unique aspect of it,” Plunk said. “The good thing about it is that we all left schools that we probably won’t play. Wholeheartedly, I think everybody wishes everybody the best.”

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Move It

The domino effect of area coaching changes this spring:

Andy Cavalier: Resigned from Pampa on March 26, went to Eastland as an assistant.

Heath Parker: Went to Pampa from Tascosa on April 21.

Ken Plunk: Went to Tascosa from Randall on April 23.

Bryan Wood: Went to Randall from Sunray on May 14.

James McAlister: Went to Sunray from Center Point in May.

Other notable coaching changes:

Going: In January, Mark Manley out as Childress head coach.

Coming: In February, Cody Chisum named Childress head coach.

Going: March 23, Tim Anuszkiewicz resigns as head football coach and athletic director at Borger.

Coming: April 9, former Floydada coach Rusty Purser named Borger head coach/AD.

Coming: In May, former Willis assistant coach Coby Emery named Nazareth head coach.