Marble Falls football, boys soccer coach Craven resigns
CAPTION: Ryan Craven talks to the Mustangs after the loss to Waco La Vega in the Class 4A Division I state semifinals April 3. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
Ryan Craven resigned as the Marble Falls High School boys soccer head coach and co-defensive coordinator of the football program.
Athletic director Keri Timmerman posted the job openings April 27.
Craven accepted a job as an assistant football and soccer coach at Liberty Hill High School.
“It’s extremely close (to where I live),” he said. “They are winning programs in football and in soccer. They have strong academics, strong community involvement. It is really just the best move at this time for my family. My kids are getting a little older. That’s the school district that they’ll be going to, so it just made sense to go ahead and get involved in it. They had opportunities for both my wife and I in Liberty Hill.”
Amanda Craven will be a special education teacher at Liberty Hill Legacy Ranch High School.
His resignation ends six years as a teacher and coach at Marble Falls Independent School District. He came to Marble Falls in 2020 as a football and soccer assistant coach.
On the football staff, he was a secondary coach when the Mustangs made the playoffs in 2020 and 2021 under former head coach Brian Herman, who named him the defensive coordinator in 2022, a role he kept under Timmerman.
In 2025, Craven shared defensive coordinator duties with Austin Silva. Craven continued to coordinate the back end and Silva coordinated the front end.
On the soccer staff, he worked under former head coach Rick Hoover, who elevated the program to being a consistent playoff contender year in and year out. When Marble Falls dropped to Class 4A for the 2022-23, those Mustangs regularly contended for the district title.
At the end of the 2023-24 season, Hoover announced he was retiring from being the head coach of the program. The school district then offered Craven the head coaching job.
The soccer program has won three of the last four district titles and the 2026 team had the best finish in school history – by winning the District 26-4A crown and four playoff matches en route to reaching the Class 4A Division I state tournament. The Mustangs lost 1-0 to eventual state champion Waco La Vega.
So why leave?
“Sometimes it’s just time for a change,” Craven said. “Obviously me being in soccer and in football and having a passion for both, I still want to coach both. Bottom line is I wanted a lesser role, to be able to get involved with my kids and not have to do the drive every day.”
Craven had nothing but respect for the Marble Falls ISD community, emphasizing it takes a large group of people moving in the same direction to achieve success.
He noted he learned from Timmerman, especially how to highlight the accomplishments of the players on social media. Those posts helped him connect better with his players.
Two people who were at the center of the soccer program’s success are Manolo Custodio of the Look and Think Soccer Development Program and Hoover. For many years Custodio has been a select soccer coach and has helped organize clinics, camps and other soccer-related events to give youth opportunities to improve their individual games.
Hoover came to Marble Falls in 2013 and steered the program through District 25-5A that featured four Leander Independent School District high schools, both Georgetown ISD high schools and Liberty Hill. He guided the 2018 Mustangs to the Class 5A Region IV semifinals and had a stack of accomplishments before turning the reigns over to Craven. Hoover continued working closely with Marble Falls ISD soccer and was available to Craven as a mentor and friend.
“I learned a lot from Hoover,” Craven said.
CAPTION: Co-defensive coordinator Ryan Craven (center) talks to the defense before the Mustangs take the field during the 59-0 win at San Antonio Brackenridge Sept. 19. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
