howeenterprise.com
Monday, June 4, 2018
McQueen
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Joey McQueen at Comfort. Photo from Comfort ISD website.
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schools. Simmons was the former head football coach for Ballinger and he quickly hired Ballinger assistant Jim Fryar in 1984 for the football coaching staff. By 1985, Fryar was promoted to head coach and athletic director. In 1988, Howe hired a young roofer to be an assistant coach. His name was Joey McQueen, but everyone called him "Buck" and he called everyone "Buck." McQueen just so happened to be the former starting quarterback for Simmons at Ballinger with a reputation of being a "come-back-quarterback." Out of college, McQueen, who began his coaching career in 1980 as an assistant at Wink, Texas, he took a break when he thought he was going to make a lot of money as an entrepreneur in the roofing business, but soon realized his passion was in the athletics field. And he had one thing you really need in the coaching profession - connections.
and Fryar were also riding a powerful senior class to a threeround run. That became the second time in five years that Fryar had taken Howe to the final 16. Young coaches use opportunities to upgrade their ranks of high school coaching and Fryar did just that by landing a position at Jacksboro. This resulted in a job opening at Howe and Simmons' former quarterback was probably in mind before Fryar got the final "o" in Jacksboro from his lips. McQueen was able to exit his Bells contract and accept the head coaching position at Howe for the 1990 season.
With Fryar, and the success of previous Howe Head Coach Buck Smith, Howe had become a fullblown football town and had grabbed the "Ballinger East" mentality with the sudden reputation of consistently beating Celina and being regarded in the ranks with Pilot Point. But even in McQueen was loved by the players football towns, there are highlyand students of Howe in that first talented non-football playing year of 1988. He was young, athletes. When McQueen returned energetic, and overly polite to all to Howe, he was welcomed with that met him. Simmons was known open arms except for one lady who to have a nepotistic nature about had one eyebrow raised. This him as his brother-in-law became particular mom had a son who was the head coach at Tom Bean during a basketball-first athlete and they his tenure here. But in football, wanted equal representation in this players are also family and when sudden football haven. As the Bells went searching for a head Ballinger Brigade was erected in coach and athletic director, Howe, a dedicated varsity Simmons helped his former basketball coach was left to a quarterback land the position football coach that didn't which was his first head coaching particularly want the position. So job in 1989. Since that initial how did McQueen solve the season in Bells where he led the equation? He brought with him Panthers to a 10-0 regular season another Ballinger guy - his best record and a trip to the area friend Tim Rose who would coach championship, McQueen coached the varsity basketball team in Howe in many towns before originally for 24 seasons. Thanks to that retiring from high school football mom, McQueen was perhaps in 2011 to become the receivers indoctrinated into the role of coach at Hardin-Simmons athletic director as well as head University. He did eventually football coach at a very early age. return to high school as a head coach in 2014 for Florence and Howe had one returning offensive then Comfort where he just starter in Monte Walker and a recently announced he had retired defensive linebacker returning in from coaching after a quarter Jon Norwood. Both of those century of seasons head coaching teenagers made phone calls to Texas high school football. McQueen's office and left notes on his Bells desk trying to lure him While McQueen advanced with page 6 Bells in the playoffs on a tie, Howe
