Westwood PANTHERS
Ushering in a new era
Westwood looking for gold ball in 2026
Step onto the newly renovated field at Westwood Panther Stadium and you can feel the energy humming through the summer heat.
Coming off a 9 – 3 campaign that ended only at the hands of state-favorite Columbus, the Westwood Panthers aren’ t taking a victory lap— they’ re gearing up for something bigger.
Ranked among the Top 25 programs in the state entering 2026, Westwood is ushering in a new era under head coach Randy Pippin.
For Pippin, taking over a contender isn’ t just another coaching stop in a decorated 15-year head coaching career spanning seven states— it’ s a homecoming.
“ For me to be back in East Texas is really a big deal,” Pippin said.“ This is where my roots are. Coming home is a good feeling.”
Unlike many head coaching hires where the first order of business is tearing down a broken culture to start from scratch, Pippin inherited a machine that was already humming.
“ Most of the time when you go into a program, there’ s a lot of problems and stuff that need fixing,” Pippin said.“ It’ s not that way at Palestine Westwood. We’ ve got a tremendous tradition going. From principal Ms. [ Angela ] Johnson to the administration and our staff, everybody’ s been great. It’ s an exciting situation.”
With the high expectations of a statewide ranking comes external noise, but Pippin— a seasoned veteran on the sidelines— is quick to keep things in perspective. When asked about entering the year as a consensus Top 25 team, he takes it in stride.
“ I’ ll just be redundant like everybody else: it doesn’ t matter,” Pippin said.“ Well, it does matter in the sense that you’ ve
24 | END ZONE | 2026 earned the right to be respected and ranked. But you can’ t look at a piece of paper and think it’ s just going to happen.”
To drive the point home to his players, Pippin uses a simple summer reality check.
“ I ask the team:‘ How many in here want to win a state championship?’ Every hand goes up,” Pippin said.“ Then I tell them, you can go ask any other high school in the state of Texas that same question, and every kid in that room is going to raise their hand, too. Everybody wants to win. It’ s just a matter of: are you willing to do what it takes to prepare to win?”
That preparation will be tested early and often. Texas high school football realignment handed Westwood a grueling district slate, but Pippin embraced the challenge.
“ If you’ ve got goals beyond district play, you’ ve got to beat those good teams eventually,” Pippin said.“ You might as well work on it up front. It’ s going to make for a real fun season for spectators.”
It certainly doesn’ t hurt that Pippin’ s offensive huddle features one of the most explosive talents in the Lone Star State: senior quarterback and Texas Tech commit Kavian Bryant.
“ Love it! I can’ t lie about that,” Pippin said when asked about coaching the star signal-caller.“ He’ s a great talent from a great athletic family, and his parents are wonderful teachers and coaches. It’ s nice to have the best quarterback in Texas. But just like our team rankings, Kavian knows he’ s got to go out and prove it every single week.”
While Bryant’ s arm will anchor the offense, Pippin stresses that small-school success relies on total roster commitment. On a 3A roster, depth is precious, and every single player— from starters to special teams gunners and student managers— holds a critical role.
“ When you’ re on small rosters like we are, everybody matters. You’ re not just giving lip service,” Pippin said.“ Every single person in the program has an important job to do. If you’ re on that roster, you’ re going to play. It takes everybody to be successful at a high level.”
To execute that vision, Pippin assembled a strong coaching staff, highlighted by coordinators Anthony Weeden, Marlon Birdsong and special teams coordinator Mike Shepperd. Fans can expect a team that plays fast, physical and relentless in all three phases of the game.
“ We’ re going to be in a passionate pursuit of perfection,” Pippin said.“ A hard edge on defense, a lot of energy and effort on offense, and high-impact special teams. That’ s what I want people to see from the stands.”