And who might this famous coach be? Enter, Byron McAdams of Huntsville, Texas, who labeled himself with this intriguing moniker. Let’s find out why.
I grew up in Houston and graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in physical education and health. I then attended Stephen F. Austin and earned a master’s degree in secondary education and a superintendent’s certification. In 1980, I worked under Roger Tedford at Huntsville High School and then was hired as the freshman football coach, a position I held from 1981–1983. During those years, I coached three sports: football, basketball, and baseball. It was a real grind with one hundred straight days of coaching football each season. Afterwards I went to Texas City, then to Kaufman before landing my first job as a head coach at Reicher High School in Waco for the 1987–1988 season.
I was head coach at Strake Jesuit in Houston from 1989–91. During that time, private schools only played other private schools. I started the push with UIL to allow Strake Jesuit Houston and Dallas Jesuit to play public schools, and this finally passed, although with restrictions. After this time, I took a head coaching job in Huntington for two years, then an offensive coordinator position at Friendswood ISD from 1994–95. I then left coaching for a while before getting a call from a coaching friend who offered me a position at St. Thomas High School in Houston in 2002. He had a Division 1 quarterback and three Division 1 receivers that year, guaranteeing an exciting year ahead!
My wife Margaret, born and raised in Huntsville, was always supportive of all this craziness. She posed the idea of moving to the Hill Country, which we did, and I coached the eight-man team in Comfort for a year. During the following years, I also served as Assistant Superintendent of Brenham ISD before retiring in 2014. During most of my years, I always had three jobs going simultaneously, whether it was teaching driver’s education, coaching, and administration—or running a tree and landscape business. My work ethic has always been strong.
My nickname “Il Segreto” was actually given to me by my cousin. It’s Italian for “The Secret,” and it stuck. Even now, if you run into someone who coached or played with me, they’ll probably call me that. It’s been part of my identity as long as I can remember.
I’m proud of the relationships I built. Some of my former players still call me to this day, just to talk or ask for advice. That means more to me than any win-loss record. I’m also proud of the number of assistant coaches I mentored who went on to be successful head coaches themselves. I feel like I’ve had a lasting impact on Texas high school football.
