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Meet the THS coaches ![]()
Meet the Ducks
Fans can meet the coaches in person Saturday at 7 p.m. during the annual Meet the Ducks event sponsored by the Taylor Athletic Booster Club. In addition to the coaching staff, the public will be introduced to members of the football team, volleyball team, cross-country team, athletic trainers, band, color guard, cheerleaders and Hi-Steppers. The event will be held in the THS auditorium. |
By Joe Hawkins The Taylor High School football team is under the guidance of a good mix of veteran Taylor coaches with a few newcomers this season. Head coach and athletic director Rick Cobia starts his second season at THS after leading the Ducks to the 4A playoffs last season. Cobia is a graduate of Katy High School and Sam Houston State University. He was coaching at Caldwell, where his teams made three appearances in the playoffs, before coming to Taylor. Cobia has 24 years of experience, including eight as a head coach. He and his wife Cindy have two children, Jacie, a freshman at Temple College, and Ricky, a freshman at Taylor High School. Derek Smith is the assistant athletic director and defensive coordinator. He also is assistant boys track coach at THS. Smith is a graduate of Frankston High School and Stephen F. Austin State University. He and his wife Shelle have two children, Zane, 6, and Savana, 2. Smith also teaches chemistry at THS. Harold “Dusty” Loewe coaches the Ducks wide receivers. He also is the new head basketball coach at THS, and he teaches history at the high school. He is a graduate of Fairfield High School and Sul Ross State University, and has 28 years of coaching experience. Loewe followed Cobia to Taylor from Caldwell. His wife, Lisa, is a graduate of Rockdale High School and they have three children, Justin, a student at Texas Wesleyan University, Miranda, who is attending Blinn College, and Lance, a freshman at THS. Lance Loewe and Ricky Cobia have been sharing duties this preseason as quarterback of the freshman football team. Doug Kuhl is the running back coach for the Ducks. He also is head baseball coach. Kuhl is a graduate of Texas A&M University and has 24 years of coaching experience. He and his wife Peggy have three children, Kelly, a teacher and coach in Thorndale, Kody, a senior at Texas A&M, and Katelyn, a seventh-grader at Taylor Middle School. Kuhl also teaches freshman biology at THS. Stan Gabel coaches Taylor's defensive secondary. He also is head boys track coach and teaches biology at THS. Gabel is a graduate of Copan High School in Copan, Okla. and the University of Central Oklahoma and has been coaching for 26 years. He also teaches biology at THS. Gabel and his wife Jimmie have four children, Brook, 15, Thomas, 11, Jack, 4 and Sonny, 1. Rusty Rohan, a graduate of Needville High School and Texas A&M, coaches the Ducks outside linebackers. He also coaches freshman boys basketball and is P.E. teacher at Northside Elementary School. He and his wife Julie have one daughter, Madison, 2. Ryan Vrabel, who graduated from Jarrell High School and Texas State University, is the offensive coordinator for the Ducks. Vrabel also coaches both boys and girls golf at THS and teaches P.E. and world history at the high school. Vrabel and his wife Kristy have one child, Braeden, 2. Kenny Cmerek, a THS graduate, coaches the Ducks defensive line and also is assistant baseball coach. He is a graduate of Southwestern University. Cmerek was a member of the 1969 Ducks baseball team that won a state championship and he played on the 1971 team that was runner up in the race for the state title. He has been coaching and teaching for 29 years. In addition to his high school coaching duties, Cmerek teaches P.E. at Pasemann Elementary School. His wife, Michele, is the librarian at Pasemann Elementary, and the couple have one daughter, Lindsey Daniell, who is a teacher in Thorndale. Mark Rogers coaches inside linebackers for THS. He also is the coach of the high school powerlifting team. Rogers is a graduate of Northwest Whittfield High School in Tunnel Hill, Ga. and Texas A&M University at Commerce. He teaches resource math at THS. Stacy, his wife, is head volleyball coach for the Lady Ducks. The couple has one child, Zimmer, 3. James Proctor is offensive line coach for the Ducks. He also is assistant boys track coach and teaches world history. Another Jarrell High School graduate, Proctor also graduated from Texas State University. He and his wife Cynthia, a teacher at T.H. Johnson Elementary School, have one son, 6-month-old Breken. Matt Walker is the Ducks receivers coach. He is a graduate of Eden High School in West Texas and Angelo State University in San Angelo. He also has coached varsity track and middle school football for the past three years, and he teaches a principles of technology class at THS. His wife Camie is a third-grade teacher in Granger.
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