Big changes at Whiteface

Big changes are happening in the coaching staff at Whiteface High School.

Head Football Coach Clint Linman is the new Athletic Director for the Antelopes, replacing the retiring athletic director and girls’ basketball coach Gary Simmons.

Linman will retain football and powerlifting duties. Brandon Flores will take over the boys’ basketball program from retiring coach Todd Sessums, while Jason Blankenship will take the helm of the girls’ program.

Josh Watson will continue as a football and basketball assistant and take on duties as head boys’ track coach.

Katie Ann Turnipseed will be another new face. She will be the assistant girls’ basketball and cross county as well as head girls’ track coach.

Blankenship will also take over as tennis coach and Superintendent Josh Damron will take on duties as golf coach.

This isn’t Linman’s first time as an athletic director. He has served in that capacity at McClean and before that Anton, “a long time ago.”

The most important thing to Linman is to make sure that the coaches and kids have what they need to be successful and to make sure everyone is on the same page.

“We have to communicate,” he said. “Coaching in a small school is different, you coach three seasons, high school and junior high.”

Whereas larger schools can have coaches and athletes who specialize, in 1A schools, nearly everyone is involved in nearly every event on some level.

“We coach three sports,” he added. Linman is excited about the possibilities at Whiteface even with the graduation of a large senior class, including eight boys.

“People don’t realize how many sophomores we had,” he said. “This is my first time with a junior varsity all year,” he added, “The growth (when the kids get a chance to play) is amazing.”

He also singled out the junior high school program as a positive influence on the future of Whiteface athletics.

“We’ve got great parents and a great booster club,” he added, saying that was one of the key ingredients for a successful athletic program.

The new coaching staff is on the same page. Flores said he saw a lot of “really good athletes” among the boys’ team.

He looks to have a team that can score, but said he wants to be known for defense.

Flores comes from Meadow where he spent five years as head boys’ basketball coach, developing a program that made the playoffs two years and narrowly missed a playoff appearance last year, losing a play-in game with Morton.

He also has a history as a high school basketball player for a team that made the playoffs all four years of his high school career.

Before coaching at Meadow he was an assistant at Lubbock All Saints for two years. A graduate of Texas Tech, he will teach mathematics.

Flores’ wife, Jasmine, will remain at Meadow as the Human Resources Director, Child Nutrition Director and Superintendent Secretary.

“She wears a lot of hats,” he said with a proud grin.

They have a daughter, Aria, who is a year old. Blankenship has a more extensive resume, having coached for 28 years. He spent the last six years in Jayton, where he won the district title three of those years and made the regional finals once.

On the cross country side, his teams won two state girls’ titles and three boys’ titles. As for tennis, his teams had regional qualifiers each year and one state group.

Before that, he spent eight years in Throckmorton, coaching boys and girls basketball at different times.

He got his start at Abilene Christian University, where he played basketball and coached the men’s team after graduation.

Most of his coaching career has been at smaller schools with the exception of a short stint at Arlington.

“I got my masters and a wife,” he said, before deciding to go to smaller schools. “You have a better sense of community.”

His system will have a different look, but said that Coach Simmons had done a great job of developing a “heavy basketball IQ” in the girls’ team.

“This is only the second time I’ve taken over a program with a winning record,” he said. “It’s exciting to take over a program this good.” Blankenship believes a team’s success has as much to do with the kids as it does with the coaches.

“A team has to lead the team,” he said, “and this group has that ‘it’ factor.”

He gives a lot of credit to the parents as well for encouraging the kids and supporting the coaches. “The goal is to go to state,” he said.

Blankeship’s wife, Kristen does home studies for couples who adopt. He has two girls in school – Hannah is a junior and Emily a sophomore.

His son Ben was defensive MVP for the Jayton basketball team last season and is headed to Harding University this year.

Blankenship will be teaching sixth and seventh grade history.

Watson comes back from last season, where he was an assistant in football and track. Watson is a graduate of Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma and will be teaching sixth and seventh grade math.

He hails from McLean where his younger brother played for Linman.

Turnipseed comes from six years at Lubbock Christian High School where she was a basketball assistant and spent two years as head coach for girls’ volleyball and girls’ track.

She grew up in Ropes and her brother Ty lives in Whiteface.

“I wasn’t seeking a change,” she said. “It just fell into place.”