Anderson-Shiro names longtime Navasota assistant its head football coach

By LARRY BOWEN

Longtime Navasota assistant coach Sean Witherwax has been chosen as the new head football coach and athletic director at Anderson-Shiro.

In luring Witherwax 9 miles up State Highway 90, Anderson-Shiro officials landed a first-time head football coach with plenty of winning and offense on his resume. Witherwax spent the last 11 years as offensive coordinator and line coach under Lee Fedora as the Rattlers won a pair of state championships.

“It just fit,” Witherwax said. “It’s right here close to Navasota, and my children have been playing Little League and on select teams with the kids from Anderson. My two oldest kids showed pigs at the Grimes County Fair. We have a bunch of friends over in the Anderson area. I know they’ve got some great traditions, and they’ve got some kids coming up that are going to be unbelievably hard workers and great athletes.”

Witherwax, 42, will replace Andy Sexton, who resigned in March after the Owls made the playoffs and went 4-7 in his second season. Witherwax’s official start date at Anderson-Shiro will be Wednesday, and he said his first priority will be building a relationship with his new players.

Anderson-Shiro has been relatively successful for a start-up program, posting a 16-24 record in four seasons of varsity competition. Next season the Owls will move up a classification to 3A, which will make Witherwax’s job more challenging.

“I expect the program to grow,” he said. “The wins and losses are going to take care of themselves. We’re going to outwork everybody that we play — that’s what I expect. The type of kids that they’ve got there, it’s just going to keep rolling.”

Before coming with Fedora to Navasota, Witherwax spent five seasons as an assistant at Waco Robinson after four at Brownwood. He graduated from Robinson and Howard Payne. He spent the last 10 years as head track coach at Navasota.

When Sexton resigned, he cited changes within the district. Anderson-Shiro is searching for a new superintendent and recently hired a new high school principal, Chase Thomas, who had been an assistant principal at Canton.

Witherwax was selected by an eight-member committee comprised of coaches, teachers and administrators.

“I’m not concerned in the least,” Witherwax said when asked about taking the job amid changes within the district administration.

Courtesy of The B/CS Eagle

More News