Former Marble Falls coach Draper retires
CAPTION: Former Marble Falls offensive line coach Robert Draper (left) with his linemen after the Mustangs crushed Mission Veterans Memorial 35-13 Nov. 19, 2021 for the area round win. The linemen and their coaches gathered after every victory for a group to celebrate. File photo
Former Marble Falls High School coach Robert Draper retired.
Draper, who was an educator for 34 years, served as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach and girls powerlifting head coach from 2020-2023 before becoming the athletic director and football head coach at Florence HIgh School where he spent the last three years.
Draper and his wife, Lisa, are in the process of moving to Copperas Cove, his hometown.
“My wife retired last spring,” he said. “When I went with her, I started talking to them about retirement and it made sense. It just seemed like a good time for both of us to be retired and be able to enjoy our lives while we still can.”
The couple have been the guests of honor with their families and friends at different gatherings across central Texas where all have reminisced about the good times. That was especially true when the Drapers lived in Marble Falls.
Robert Draper was the offensive line coach when the Mustangs advanced to the Class 5A Division II playoffs. They shocked Brenham inside its Cub Stadium in back-to-back years to win bi-district crowns in 2020 and 2021 and added an area round win in 2021. Those Mustangs also pushed San Antonio Alamo Heights to the limit, losing 10-7, in the regional quarterfinals.
“They were very magical because that was the last two years of my coaching career that we were in the playoffs, some of the runs that we made,” he said. “Marble Falls in recent years traditionally hasn’t made the playoffs and hasn’t done those things. They have tradition. But generally that’s from the 1990s.”
Draper, whom coaches consider the authority of slot-T offensive lines based on the numerous times he’s asked to explain or clarify something, laughed as he thought back to the days leading up to Brenham in 2020 and 2021.
“We were picked to lose by double digits,” he said in between chuckles. “We were picked to lose by 20-plus in both of those games. We thought going into those two games if we just keep the game plan simple and consistent, we execute and try to frustrate them (that we could win), and we did. And the kids bought into it. And then the second year, I don’t think we had as much of a sales job on them.”
One reason Draper came to Marble Falls is because of some of the coaches who were already on staff led by former head coach Brian Herman. The others included Heath Hohman, Clay Bode and Zane Bode. They all worked together at Liberty Hill in the slot-T offense. Herman had already coached one season before Draper joined.
So when Draper announced his retirement and met up with some of his old Liberty Hill friends and colleagues, one game came up – the Panthers’ 21-14 win against the Mustangs Oct. 15, 2021 when Liberty Hill scored on its last possession of the first quarter and first possession of the second stanza then recovered an onside kick after the second touchdown.
CAPTION: Robert and Lisa Draper are officially retired from being in education. Lisa Draper retired a year before her husband, who served as an offensive line coach, offensive coordinator and head coach. The Drapers spent three years at Marble Falls Independent School District. Courtesy photo
Just when it looked like the Panthers were going to put the game away, the Mustangs stiffened and recovered a fumble on their one-yard line. Then Marble Falls scored in the second quarter to trail 21-7 at the half and trimmed the deficit to 21-14 early in the fourth period.
“We almost beat them at Liberty Hill in district, and I think that got our kids believing in themselves a lot more where we could make a good run,” Draper said. “And we lose to Alamo Heights by a field goal, and then they end up losing by a touchdown to Liberty Hill, which we thought we could play with Liberty Hill.”
The Mustangs weren’t as healthy for Alamo Heights beginning with starting quarterback Jake Becker.
“If Jake doesn’t break his foot, things might go differently,” Draper said. “We might have been playing in the state game. Who knows. But yeah, that was a pretty magical run and that was a great a group of kids.”
Draper built the offensive line around center Hudson McBryde, a three-year lettermen who was regarded as the best lineman in the program by his sophomore year.
“I’ll be honest with you,” the coach said. “I think the thing that helped us was the development of the offensive line, and a lot of it was led by Hudson McBryde. Those guys organized when I first came. We talked a little bit. We said, ‘Hudson, we can do this, we have to get them all here.’ So he did a great job of getting kids to summer workouts and getting the offensive line to summer workouts and getting them to show up and do the lifting and put the work in, and it really started showing especially that second year where a lot of times our offensive line was the dominant force of the team. That was another thing made me proud of our run in Marble Falls.”
He recalled his hire happened right as the COVID-19 pandemic started, which forced government officials to call for stay-at-home orders. He believes it was during the spring and summer that team leaders emerged that included Becker and McBryde
“I think that established that for that group between the offensive line and Jake Becker and some of the other guys on defense,” the coach said. “They would put the work in between the junior and senior years to make their senior year special. To me, that’s what led that group to being great, and I think that helped a lot. And it set a culture with some of the kids.”
