Adapted from an article by Jack Stallard, LNJ
May 11, 2009

Huey Chancellor, who won 115 football games and had just one losing season in 14 campaigns at Bellville, has accepted the dual positions of athletic director / head football coach at Pine Tree High School. Chancellor, who was part of an extensive interview process at Pine Tree ISD, was greeted by a gathering of Pine Tree football supporters just after 9 p.m. Monday night outside the board meeting at the Pine Tree Community Center. Shortly after his arrival, Chancellor was officially named Pine Tree High School's new athletic director and head football coach.

Born in Midland, Texas, Raymond (Huey) Chancellor graduated from Odessa Permian High School, Odessa Junior College, and the University of New Mexico, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education with a minor in Health.

His past experiences include serving as the Athletic Director and Head Football coach most recently at Bellville High School from 1995 to present, and Palacios HS from 1993-95. He served as Head Football Coach at Cibola HS in Albuquerque, NM, and football coach at El Campo HS and Nimitz Junior High in Odessa, Texas.

Chancellor and his wife, Dana, who is also an educator, are moving to Longview with their three children. “I look forward to working with Pine Tree because I am seeking a challenging position that enables me to develop a program that allows all sports an opportunity to be successful.”

Chancellor has two daughters playing volleyball at Texas A&M-Kingsville and another daughter about to graduate high school, so he said the timing worked right for a change. "We decided to look around, saw this position and I thought it was a district that seemed like they really wanted to get their football program going. Being a football coach, that gets me a little excited," said Chancellor, a 1978 graduate of Odessa Permian. "When I talked to them I really thought the administration and committee was really supportive of football. When they called me and asked me if I'd be interested in coming, I got that little excitement to where you're thinking, 'Hey, I get a chance to go get something started.

"It's always fun meeting new kids and getting some energy from different kids. I'm competitive as a coach, and going into a place that's been in the mid-range for a while, to see if we can't raise that bar, it's a challenge. I'm taking the challenge and we'll see how we do."

As an Athletic Director, Chancellor boasts several accomplishments including assisting over 50 athletes to continue their education at the college level. As AD, he has overseen programs qualifying for All-Star games and for State Meets or Tournaments in volleyball, softball, cross country, track golf, tennis and power lifting.

As Head Football Coach, Chancellor is 115-49 in 14 seasons at Bellville (1995-2008). Since the 1999 season, he has led the Brahmas to the playoffs every season except 2007. His teams won district titles in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008 — with the 2008 squad compiling a 12-2 record and reaching the Class 3A Region IV finals before losing to Giddings, 21-20.

Chancellor's teams won 13 games twice (13-2 in 2002 and 13-1 in 2003), compiled a 12-1 season in 2001 and won at least eight games three other times (8-4 in 1999, 9-2 in 2005 and 8-3 in 2006.His only losing season at Bellville came in 1997 (3-7), and his only other non-winning season (5-5) came in 2007. Bellville competes in District 25-3A with Columbus, Giddings, La Grange, Sealy and Smithville.

Chancellor, who said his philosophy revolves around hard work and believing, is anxious to tackle the football program duties at Pine Tree.

By Gabriel Brooks, LNJ
Sunday, May 17, 2009

(Editor's note: Pine Tree High School beat writer Gabriel D. Brooks held a question-and-answer session with Huey Chancellor, who was hired as the new head football coach and athletic director at Pine Tree on Monday).

Q. What's your philosophy as far as the athletic program as a whole?

A. I think our job as ADs and coaches is to provide a program across the board for our kids to be successful. Along with that we want good kids. I want kids who understand the importance of education and why they're really there. I really want our coaches and kids to feel comfortable sharing kids in multiple programs. I'm not just worried about the football program, I want success in all sports. We share kids and the coaches become a family and we're not a group who cares only about our area.

Q. What particular football memory stands out in your time at Bellville?

A. There have been some pretty special moments. We beat Marlin in triple overtime in the quarterfinals in about 2002, and we were considered pretty big underdogs. That was a pretty big win in the playoffs that's probably one of the biggest wins.

Two or three years ago, we were already in the playoffs and we're playing Caldwell. We're down 28-3 with 6:20 left. We executed some onside kicks and got the ball back and with 58 seconds left we're kicking off up 29-28. We were able to score four touchdowns and come back and win the ballgame.

Q. Do you have a memory that stands out in another sport?

A. My greatest memory is kind of a combination as an AD and a father. In 2005, I had two daughters who played for the volleyball team that won the state championship. It was a proud moment as an AD and an even prouder moment as a father to see two daughters have a gold medal wrapped around their necks.

Q. Do you install an offensive and defensive system for your program to follow, or do you change schemes often based on personnel?

A. I pretty much install a system that we branch off of. We're going to base out of a two-back offensive philosophy. We'll do a lot of things, but it'll all build around that two-back. We're able to utilize several skill kids instead of just one kid getting the ball all the time and getting all the yards so they have to defend more than one person.

I've been a 4-3 person for 24 years. We'll do a lot of multiple things out of that, but it call comes from a 4-3.

Q. What's the single-most important concept to promote when you're taking over a program that has struggled in recent years?

A. I think the biggest thing is to get these kids to believe they can win. When you're used to winning two or three games for the last several years, some people just learn to accept that. People are going to lose — the best people in the world lose — but you deal with, you don't accept it. I want them to believe they're going to win.

Q. What's it like for somebody who grew up in West Texas to now live in East Texas?

A. I knew there's a lot of trees, but there's more than I thought. What I didn't realize is as much rolling hills out there as there is. There's really some beautiful country.

Q. When you have some down time, what is it that you're most likely doing?

A. When I get an opportunity to shut down for a while I'm pretty much a home body. I like being around my family.

Q. What is your first impression of District 13-4A?

A. I haven't had a chance to look at film as much as I'd like, but there's a bunch of great athletes and great coaches. It's going to be a challenge for us to get in there and compete right away, but that's the fun part.

Q. What have your first few days at Pine Tree been like?

A. Fun. I've been just really excited about the way the kids have accepted me. I've never been on a staff where all of a sudden a new coach comes in. The coaches are in kind of an awkward situation, but they've been great. We've had two days of implementing our program and we've made a lot of progress. I'm looking forward to working with these kids and coaches and seeing what we can accomplish together.