great coaches and the kids bought in and you can see by the ones standing here tonight , they still keep up with everybody . And this atmosphere here was just unbelievable .”
The 2003 Leopards went 15-0 . Cordell was 37-5 as head coach at the school .
“ For people that follow Texas high school football , going to the state championship game and to win it is a pinnacle ,” Cordell said . “ It ’ s what you want to do here in the state of Texas . It means you ’ re some of the best of the best . We just happened to be that that year … and being able to share it with these great young men was the great thing . They weren ’ t just great athletes . They were even better men .”
Cordell has returned the championship trophy , which had been in his possession since 2003 . He told the home crowd at the September reunion that trophy is a better fit at Gainesville High School than his office in Sherman , where he is currently employed at the athletic director for that city ’ s school district .
No matter where he goes , Cordell will never forget the feeling that came after the final whistle .
“ Yeah , it took me a long time to walk off that field ;
in fact , they had to kick me off the field ,” Cordell chuckled . “ I was sitting in the middle of the old Texas stadium … with the trophy and one of the security guys says , ‘ Hey , it ’ s time to go .’
“ Like I said , it just a dream to come true . A group of kids that never stopped believing . We just kind of stayed under the radar and we got some momentum and we were known as a comeback kids . We were down several games in the playoffs in the second half , and this coaching staff made some great adjustments and the kids went out there and executed those adjustments .”
Eberhart said some of Burnett ’ s supporters could have been a bit more gracious in defeat .
“ All of all of Burnett ’ s cheerleaders come outta the bench , shaking our hands and they all kept saying , ‘ Y ’ all don ’ t deserve it . Y ’ all don ’ t deserve it .’ And we were like , ‘ Well , we won .’ Why did we not deserve it anyway ? I dunno ,” said Eberhart , who still lives in Gainesville .
Former Register sports writer Sean Gorman contributed to this story .
HOLIDAY 2023 23 GAINESVILLE LIVING