New Hays football coaches (l-r) defensive secondary coach Chris Ellis, offensive coordinator Bill Gambs and freshmen quarterbacks coach Robert Gomez will join head coach Blake Feldt as new faces on the Rebel sidelines this season. (Photo by Jason Gordon)
by JASON GORDON
Blake Feldt won’t be the only new person on the football coaching staff at Hays High School this year.
Offensive coordinator Bill Gambs, defensive secondary coach Chris Ellis and freshmen quarterbacks coach Robert Gomez will all be making their official Rebel coaching debut this week.
The Hays varsity team hosts Akins Friday night and the freshmen team will travel to Akins for its opener Thursday night.
Gambs’ most recent coaching stop was as head coach at Keller High School, and he was also an offensive line coach on the 2001 Denton Ryan team that won the 2001 Class 4A Division I State Title.
He is a high-energy coach that isn’t afraid to get in your face if he deems it necessary to get his point across.
“Coach Gambs has the same coaching philosophy I do,” said Feldt, Hays’ new head coach and athletic coordinator. “He knows how to build a program and he’s a great addition to our staff. He’s a difference maker.”
Ellis was head coach at Iowa Park High School before he spent the 2010 season as an assistant at Bastrop.
Ellis was a fairly easy choice when it came time to add staff members at Hays.
When Ellis was at Iowa Park and Feldt was head coach at Breckenridge High the two squared off three times – and Ellis posted a 3-0 record against Feldt.
Ellis led Iowa Park to the Class 3A regional finals four times from 1998-2005.
“Chris Ellis is a great football coach,” Feldt said. “He’s one of those guys that has so much knowledge about the game. We are lucky to have him over here at Hays.”
Feldt said he feels Gomez has a lot of potential as a coach.
“Robert is a young coach that’s going to be a great coach,” Feldt said. “His dad is a well known head coach in the valley, so he’s been around coaching his whole life. He’s very enthusiastic and he definitely wants to be a head coach some day.”
Gambs said he’s fired up about being on Feldt’s staff at Hays.
“Hays High School is a special place with outstanding kids,” Gambs said. “They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do since we walked on this campus. Hays has had a terrific tradition for so many seasons and our goal is to continue that by winning games and going far in the playoffs year after year.”
Ellis was an assistant coach under Weldon Nelms at Wimberley from 1987-1994 before leaving for Iowa Park.
“I knew about Hays’ tradition,” Ellis said. “I went to college in San Marcos and we always wanted to get back down here. In my career I’ve been around programs that were both at low and high points, and I can tell you it’s a lot more fun to get to the postseason and win games. That’s what we’re aiming for here.”
