GHS Coaching Staff
Head Coach
Danny Russell
Coach Russell is excited to be beginning his seventh year as head coach and 25th total at GHS. He returned after being the head coach at Wichita Falls for three years where he led them to deep playoff runs in back to back years. Prior to that he was the defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach at GHS from 2001--2012. A lifelong Owl he is a 1984 graduate of GHS. While there he was selected to the All-Metroplex and All-District teams in both football and baseball. He attended Panola College and the University of North Texas on baseball scholarships and captured All-Conference honors at both stops. He was the secondary coach for the 1999 state championship team and also helped coach the North all-stars to victory in the 2001 THSCA All-Star game. Coach Russell received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of North Texas in 1989 and his Master’s Degree from Lamar University in 2009. He and his lovely wife Phyllis have three beautiful children and Chris, Alicia and Cody and three beautiful grandchildren-Macy, Dillon and Olivia
Coordinators
Kyle Sanders Offensive coordinator Coach Sanders is in his eighth year at Garland High School. He played football at Texas Tech University starting at Center and Guard and playing in 3 Bowl Games for the Red Raiders under coaches Spike Dykes and Mike Leach. Coach Sanders began his coaching career at Texas Tech from 2000 to 2002 and coached in the 2001 Alamo Bowl. In 21 years of coaching he has been the offensive coordinator at West Mesquite, Caddo Mills, Sachse, and Royse City and has coached at Wylie East. Coach Sanders and his wife Jo Anna have two children- Dylan (20) and Skylar (12). |
Kelvin Perry defensive coordinator This is Coach Perry's 21st year of coaching, most of it has been in Garland ISD. He is a product of GISD, and played defensive back at Mississippi Valley State University. He is married to his beautiful wife Donya Perry and together they have two wonderful children. |
Varsity
James Maxwell Running Backs Coach Maxwell grew up in Garland and was a 2003 graduate of Garland High School. He attended McPherson College in McPherson, KS on a football scholarship and graduated with a degree in Kinesiology in 2007. After graduation from McPherson, he coached running backs during the 2007 football season. Coach Maxwell is entering his eighth year at Garland and his fifteenth year overall. Prior to Garland, Coach Maxwell coached for five years in Wylie ISD at both Wylie High and Wylie East and three years at Wichita Falls High School. Coach Maxwell is married to Stephanie and they have two children (Peyton (20) and Hallie (17). |
Mike Perish Quarterbacks Coach Perish enters his first year at Garland High School. He spent the past two years as Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach at Bryan Adams High School where he contributed to Adams’ best record in 36 years. In his first year at Adams, Coach Perish developed 14 All-District Players in two years. Prior to Adams, Perish spent 2 years at Wylie East High School as Wide Receivers Coach and Quarterbacks Coach. Perish played his college ball at Indiana State University, where he led the Sycamores to the NCAA playoffs for the first time in three decades. During that historic campaign, Perish rewrote the school record book, setting 13/15 ISU School records for Quarterbacks. Perish returned to his alma mater in 2016 as wide receivers coach. Perish spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons at the University of Pittsburgh coaching Quarterbacks. A native of Frankfort, Ill., Perish earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Indiana State in 2015. Married, his wife's name is Lauren. They have a 2 year-old son, Hendrix. |
Nelson Akinwande wide Receivers Coach Akinwande is beginning his 2nd year at Garland High School and 7th overall as a coach. Akinwande graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 2016 where he received his bachelor's degree in Kinesiology, and master's in athletic administration in 2017. He played running back at his alma mater and was a graduate assistant for two years. Akinwande had the opportunity to coach the all-time rushing leader at Southeastern Oklahoma state university and had two 1000-yard rushers in one season. He also coaches track at Garland High School and has had regional and State Qualifiers in track at his previous high school. One of his athletes placed 3rd in the 100-meter dash at the UIL 8-4A State Meet in Austin during the 2021 season at Dunbar High School. |
Bryan Larned Offensive Line Coach Larned is in his second year at Garland High School and his 21st season of coaching football. A 1998 graduate of Plano East Senior High, Coach Larned went on to start at Strong Tackle for 4 seasons at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, where he earned his B.S. in Exercise and Sports Science(’03). He began his coaching career serving 2 years as a student assistant at UMHB. After another 2 years spent as a graduate assistant coach at Central Methodist University in Missouri, Coach Larned received his Masters Degree in Secondary Education (’07). Returning to Texas in 2007, Coach Larned has served as an offensive line coach or offensive coordinator in several schools over the past 15 years. He comes to GHS from Lebanon Trail High School in Frisco. Coach Larned and his wife Amanda have 4 children: Christian (19), Alecia (17), Hailey (7), and Bailey (7). |
Scott Cooper Linebackers Coach Cooper is beginning his 20th season with Garland High School. Scott graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 2004, where he majored in History and minored in Government. He also received his Masters degree in Educational Administration from Lamar University in 2011. He is a 2000 graduate of Tuloso-Midway High School in Corpus Christi, Texas. He and his wife Stefanie have three sons, Dane (14), Brock (12) & Kade (8) |
Keelan Jackson Defensive Backs After 12 years of coaching in Garland ISD, Coach Jackson has returned to his alma mater to carry on the tradition of Garland High School and the Legacy of Garland Owl Football. While under the tutelage of then position Coach Danny Russell, he earned All District, All State, and All Star honors at Cornerback. That same year, Garland High School won the State Championship with Coach Jackson as their Co-Defensive MVP, ultimately earning him a full scholarship to Texas A&M University in College Station. Now returning back to the place where it all started, he considers himself blessed to be able to give back to the program that has facilitated his winning ways and attitude. Gig ‘Em Owls, We Will Win!! |
Freshman
Danny Davis Freshman HeadCoach Linebackers Quarterbacks Danny Davis begins his 20th year coaching and his 14th at GHS. In addition to his duties as the Head Freshman football coach, he is the Varsity 1st assistant in baseball. His previous coaching stops include Kopperl High School, Bussey Middle School, and Community High School. He is a graduate of Richardson High School and Texas A&M University with a degree in Physics. He and his wife Cortney are raising a son, Rhyne, and a daughter, Fiona. |
Victor Picon Defensive Line Running Backs This is Coach Picon’s ninth year at GHS. He is a graduate of McMurry University (class of 2001) were he played offensive guard and received 1st Team All-Conference honors. Coach Picon coached at Galena Park Middle School for 9 years and at Bryan HS for 4 years. He is married to Maria D. Rojas (Garland HS class of 97) and has 6 children: Camila (1),Carolina (6) Rebecca (7), Rosalie (14), Victor (18), and Victoria (22) a Garland High graduate. |
Paul Westbrook Offensive Line Linebackers Coach Westbrook is entering his first year at GHS and his 27th year of coaching. He is a product of GISD, graduating from South Garland High School in 1992 - he also attended Texas A&M University. He has coached offensive line throughout his entire career, and has been at Duncanville High School, W.T. White High School, Bonham High School, Wills Point High School and Terrell High School. Coach Westbrook and his wife Kathy have 4 children - Lance, Alyssa, Alex and Andrea, and 2 grandchildren - Reese and Jake. |
Nate Heckelman Wide Receivers Defensive Backs Coach Heckelman is entering his second year at Garland High School. He graduated from Bluffton University in Ohio with a Bachelors degree in Math Education. Coach Heckelman also played basketball while attending Bluffton. He previously taught and coached while living in Ohio. |
Kyevon Rider Wide Receivers Defensive Backs Coach Rider hails from Tyler Tx where he graduated from Whitehouse High School. While there, he lettered in 3 sports football, basketball, and track. After high school, he went on to play 4 years college football at Texas A&M University-Commerce. This is his first year coaching. He is excited to help grow and develop this program and most importantly each and every kid. |
Trainers
Bill Brooks Trainer Coach Brooks is entering his 15th year in GISD. This is his fourth year at GHS after having worked 10 years at Naaman Forest. He is a veteran athletic trainer and has worked with two NFL teams during his career, Atlanta Falcons and the Cincinnati Bengals. Coach Brooks attended Garland High School. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and a Masters from Georgia State University. He is married to Donise and they have a son, Hamilton, who played on the 2006 Semi-final team |
David Baker Trainer Coach Baker is beginning his 45th year in GISD. Coach Baker is a graduate of Austin College with grad work including SMU, DBU, USOC, NASM and TAMU-Commerce. He received a Masters of Education from TAMU/C and has 48yrs of experience in athletic training, including work @ SMU, GHS, Lakeview Centennial, Rowlett HS, and North Garland HS. Mike is married to Becky Cowan-Baker, they have two children Christopher and Jennifer and granddaughter Sofee Jo. |