Big Country Sports Hall of Fame: Young went from Abilene High to SWC and NFL coaching career

By Sam Waller

As a senior at Abilene High School, John Paul Young knew he wanted to go into coaching.

More than 50 years after leaving AHS, coaching has been a lifelong vocation.

Young spent 42 years coaching in high school, college, the NFL and Arena Football League and, with former Angelo State coach Jim Hess, helped found the Angelo Football Clinic. Young will be among the honorees Monday at the Big Country Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

“I’m humbled and full of joy about the thing,” Young said. “To be chosen for something like this where you come from is a very, very special deal. It’s among the top honors I’ve had.”

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Coach Hess is one of the founding members and remains active on the field for National Athletic Combine (NAC).

Coaches from high schools and top colleges alike came by the NAC booth at the clinic and were shown results from all five regional high school combines we conducted in Texas this year. The feedback was all very positive.

“How do we get this?” one college coach asked.

“This is all free to the athletes and their families?” another high school coach inquired.

Questions and comments from every coach that had the opportunity to see what NAC is doing followed this trend. “We are excited about our showing at the Angelo Clinic. It feels good to get that kind of validation from some very influential D-1 college coaches,” remarked John Owen, one of NAC’s directors. “It lets us know we’re on the right track.”

The National Athletic Combine was started in 2008 by former NFL, NCAA, and High School coaches in collaboration with leading athletic technology providers who saw the need for a “standards-based” athletic combine, through which high school athletes could be evaluated fairly and accurately for college recruiters and coaches. Participation in NAC combines is free to athletes and their families.

Check Out NAC Top Performers (Updated 6/24)

See who shined at National Athletic Combine! View top performers in the 40 Yd Dash, Bench Press, Broad Jump, Vertical Jump, Short and Long Shuttles, and 3-Cone Drill at our 2010 Texas Regional combines in Greenville, Kilgore, Prosper, Odessa, The Woodlands and New Braunfels.

Don’t forget to pre-register online. Invites have been distributed via your school coaching staff. Have your letter and invitation number ready and click here to pre-register. Deadline for pre-registration is Wednesday, May 19th. Pre-registration is required for participation. We look forward to seeing you this weekend in New Braunfels.

This weekend is National Athletic Combine’s first-ever event in the Greater Houston area. NAC will take its high-tech instruments, big-name coaches and the technicians and coaches who operate things to the venue, a 100,000 square-foot facility at 602 Pruitt Road in The Woodlands (77380).

Among the former Oilers who’ll be on hand will be former QB Dan Pastorini, offensive linemen Carl Mauck and David Carter, and defensive coordinator John Paul Young, who is among the directors of NAC. There also might be an appearance by legendary Oilers head coach Bum Phillips.

Sign-in starts at 7 a.m. both days, and it’s expected that over 100 young men, made up of mostly of rising sophomores, juniors and seniors, will be taking part in the reps, the runs, the jumps and the drills. The action starts at 8 a.m. and will wrap up mid-afternoon, probably before 4 p.m.

Parents are welcome to accompany their sons to the event, but are encouraged to bring lawn chairs as seating is limited. There will also be presentations by Scott Pucek of Xplosive Speed, who trains NFL Draft prospects at the Athletes Performance facility in Frisco; and Segun Adebayo, who will head the inaugural One Play Away O-Line vs. D-Line Camp for linemen this summer at DeKaney High School, 22351 Imperial Valley Dr. (77073), from June 9-11.