The Republic of Football

"This is a wonderful, well-written book, full of compelling details and stories. A 'must read' for any Texas football fan." -- Dave Campbell, Dave Campbell's Texas Football "An incredible collection of accounts of legendary Texas high school football programs. If you like Texas high school football, you will love Chad Conine's book-well written and full of great stories and memories." -- Graham Harrell, Texas High School Football Hall of Fame inductee and former Ennis High School and Texas Tech University quarterback "For the devotee of Texas high school football, everything is here-legendary coaches and celebrated players, colorful history, high Friday night drama, and solid, thoughtful insight into the role the game has played in Texas culture. In virtually every chapter the reader is introduced to a young player who, in later years, became a household name in sports." -- Carlton Stowers, author of Where Dreams Die Hard: A Small American Town and Its Six-Man Football Team and Staubach: Portrait of the Brightest Star

With interviews and stories of celebrated players, including past and present NFL stars, as well as legendary coaches and dynastic teams from across Texas, The Republic of Football captures the standout moments in Friday night lights.

Anywhere football is played, Texas is the force to reckon with. Its powerhouse programs produce the best football players in America. In The Republic of Football, Chad S. Conine vividly captures Texas’s impact on the game with action-filled stories about legendary high school players, coaches, and teams from around the state and across seven decades.

Drawing on dozens of interviews, Conine offers rare glimpses of the early days of some of football’s biggest stars. He reveals that some players took time to achieve greatness—LaDainian Tomlinson wasn’t even the featured running back on his high school team until a breakthrough game in his senior season vaulted him to the highest level of the sport—while others, like Colt McCoy, showed their first flashes of brilliance in middle school. In telling these and many other stories of players and coaches, including Hayden Fry, Spike Dykes, Bob McQueen, Lovie Smith, Art Briles, Lawrence Elkins, Warren McVea, Ray Rhodes, Dat Nguyen, Zach Thomas, Drew Brees, and Adrian Peterson, Conine spotlights the decisive moments when players caught fire and teams such as Celina, Southlake Carroll, and Converse Judson turned into Texas dynasties. Packed with never-before-told anecdotes, as well as fresh takes on the games everyone remembers, The Republic of Football is a must-read for all fans of Friday night lights.