Randy McDougald's Iola Bulldogs were the "Team of the 90s" in Class A in Texas, appearing in the top ten in 15 of his 17 seasons.
Randy McDougald has been enjoying retirement for 13 years after a remarkable run in Texas football.
In his 20s as a 7th-grade coach in Conroe, he scouted Earl Campbell the year The Tyler Rose led his school to a state championship and beat Conroe in the 2nd round of the playoffs 10-7. The young McDougald coached his Washington Junior High Bulldogs to victory nearly every time they took the field. His teams went three full seasons without allowing a point.
He helped launched the Conroe McCullough football program (which eventually became The Woodlands) in 1976, and became the very first head coach at Conroe Oak Ridge in 1980.
At Iola, he got to play as a teen for the team he loved when he was in elementary school. Then, 23 years after he graduated as Iola's Class of 1967 salutatorian, he got the keys to the Bulldog football program as its head coach - and led the 'Dogs to their most glorious seasons.
Being a winner is in the McDougald family's DNA. In his career, Randy got to coach alongside two of his brothers and one of his sons. A nephew, Rex, played for perhaps Randy's best Iola team in 2005. He even has a granddaughter who's such a talented golfer (Brooke McDougald, formerly of TC and UH) that if not for COVID-19, she probably would have earned her LPGA tour card this year.
Roger Smith's VYPE Summer Series visit with Randy McDougald should be worth credit hours toward a Master's Degree in Texas High School Football, Late 20th Century History - if an institution of higher learning in the Lone Star State offers one.
Bradley C. Collier (VYPE)
