Marble Falls ISD’s Scales resigns

CAPTION: As a throwing coach in track and field, Richard Scales explains every part of the form and why. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

Richard Scales has resigned as the Marble Falls Middle School boys athletic coordinator to take a job at Florence Independent School District.

Scales said his resignation is strictly a family decision.

“It’s solely personal,” he said.

He is joining Florence athletic director and football head coach Robert Draper’s staff as a linebackers coach and head track and field coach and possibly an assistant basketball coach. Draper is the former Marble Falls offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.

Scales spent six years at Marble Falls Independent School District and was on staff when the Mustangs made back-to-back playoff appearances during the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

The 2021 team was incredibly special. Those Mustangs lost to district runner-up Austin McCallum 20-13 and district champion Liberty Hill 21-14 then returned to Brenham for a bi-district championship and upset the Cubs again 27-21 in overtime for a bi-district title. It marked the second time Marble Falls beat Brenham in the same round.

The Mustangs went to San Antonio and defeated Mission Veterans Memorial 35-13 before losing to San Antonio Alamo Heights 10-7 to finish the season.

It was Marble Falls’ best finish in a season in two decades.

“We made deep runs,” Scales said.

Draper also was an offensive coach on that staff.

Scales spent that season with then-defensive coordinator Zane Bode, who specialized in preparing the “back end” of the defense, while Scales concentrated on helping the defensive linemen and linebackers on the “front end.”

After some departures, including Draper resigning to take over the Florence program, Scales was named the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the 2023 Mustangs.

“From a defensive perspective, I knew how to attack the Slot-T (offense, which was the Mustangs’ scheme at the time),” he said. “I had good rapport with the kids and good relationships and good knowledge.”

Scales, who was the boys powerlifting coach and the program’s strength and conditioning coach, guided the Mustangs in capturing a regional crown en route to finishing 11th at the state powerlifting meet led by Xavier Lopez’s state championship in the 198-pound weight class in 2024.

And though he was no longer the track and field team’s throwing coach, he was happy for Kylie Roberts, who advanced to the Class 4A state meet this season in the discus and broke the school record.

“It was still really cool to see her accomplish that,” Scales said.

He spent the 2024-25 school year at Marble Falls Middle School as the boys athletic coordinator where he and girls athletic coordinator Randi Humphries were charged with “making changes and getting things right and prepared” as part of the directive from new athletic director Keri Timmerman.

Timmerman noted there were some objectives that needed to be implemented so that the middle school athletes mirrored what the high school athletes are doing.

“I was really sad to lose coach Scales,” he said. “It’s one of those things; you have to take care of your family. I support that.”

That work, Scales pointed out, isn’t easy and is incredibly necessary so that high school coaches aren’t spending as much time teaching the proper ways to get ready for a practice. Instead, the athletes and coaches can get right into season and game preparations by installing the game plan quickly.

“At the middle school, you spend a lot of time teaching fundamentals,” Scales said. “It brought me back to my roots.”

While he has some wonderful memories of being a Mustang, Scales said he hopes the athletes know that he cares about them beyond their accomplishments in sports.

“The only thing I truly care about is how the kids remember me,” he said. “When they see me, come talk to me. If they ever need someone, they can call coach Scales.”

CAPTION: Richard Scales served the Marble Falls Independent School District in many capacities as a coach, including as the athletic department’s strength and conditioning coordinator. File photo