The most dominant high school sports town in America
ARGYLE, Texas (BVM) — With three of the top 10 most populous cities in the United States, the saying, “Everything is bigger in Texas,” rings true. Texas is also home to some of the fastest-growing cities in the country as well, with the likes of Frisco, Midland, and Round Rock. But with a population of 4,204 recorded in 2018, the town of Argyle is anything but big. Yet, with a small community, there is one significant thing about Argyle: their powerhouse high school sports program.
In the last two decades, the Argyle Eagles have shown that they have been one of the most feared athletic programs in the state of Texas. Since Todd Rodgers took over 18 years ago as athletic director and head football coach, his football team and other athletic squads have controlled their opponents.
“Our school has a collection of trustworthy administrators, a great school board, and a very motivated community,” Rodgers said. “They prioritize success. They are all in 12 months out of the year.”
Since 2004, the Eagle football team has an overall record of 199-32. The team has also made it to the playoffs 16 times, appeared in five state titles games, and has won one state championship. Off to a 9-0 start this year, the Eagles seem poised to make another playoff run.
🦅Argyle Football in the Todd Rodgers Era🦅
✔️Overall Record of 194-37
✔️Playoff Record of 47-15
✔️4 Consecutive Undefeated Regular Seasons
✔️5 State Championship Appearances
✔️State Champion in 2013#BeTheStandard pic.twitter.com/wKuZzauI1L— Argyle Football (@argylegridiron) April 4, 2020
Rodgers knows as good as the football team is, that alone does not equal all of Argyle’s success.
“We’re not just good at football,” Rodgers said. “I grew up in Crane, Texas. [Which is] a small and very prideful town that was good at most of everything we did. And, some 25 years later, I’m part of a community, which is categorized as a small town, that’s won several Lone Star Cups, which means that’s the best athletic, academic, and fine arts contest in the state of Texas.”
In fact, if one were to look at any program that the school participates in, chances are they will find the Eagles right near the top.
We also have multiple [three from 2015-2017] state championships in boys golf. [The] girls golf [team] made an appearance last year. We have three state championships in boys cross country. The girls [team] has made at least three appearances in the state cross country meet. Volleyball has one, and countless state titles in academics.”
The Eagles even have five state championships in band.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Rodgers said. “When we start school, we hit it and get it. There’s a lot of success, but there is [also] a lot of commitment. The parents understand the commitment and they teach their kids to be committed to something. But the commitment, the hard work, and the positivity, that’s something that’s present in all of our programs.”
But for the football program, one state title doesn’t show the whole story. Although things were going well for the program, everything came together in 2013. Finishing with a 16-0 record, the Eagles captured the state title. But during that run, they showed off their true dominance by outscoring opponents by 600. They scored nearly seven times a game but only allowed their opponents to score twice.
Keeping with the school’s tradition of success, the baseball team has been equally, if not more, dominant than the football program with an impressive 292-51-6 overall record since 2010. They also have captured state titles in 2015, 2018, and 2019. All the titles came at the 4A level.
— Argyle Baseball (@Argyle_Baseball) June 7, 2019
For the baseball team, the last two championship runs are arguably two of the best seasons ever by a high school team. They became the first team in University Interscholastic League (UIL) history to follow up an undefeated season with another state championship. In those two seasons, 79 total games were played, and the Eagles won 77 of them. But even more impressive than that was that the Eagles won 34 of those games by shutting out their opponent. That means that they won 43% of their games by not even allowing a run.
Continuing their command over high school sports, the girl’s basketball team had also won five straight state titles until they lost to Fairfield High School in the state championship game by one point last season.
Your 2019 STATE CHAMPIONS the Argyle Lady Eagles! #UILstate pic.twitter.com/mSfqWLGNgW
— Argyle Eagles Booster Club (@ArgyleSports) March 3, 2019
The boy’s basketball program isn’t anything to turn your nose up at either. Winning over 250 games since 2010 and capturing a state title in 2012, they have helped the Eagles “dynasty” continue their winning ways.
“We have been very blessed with success,” Rodgers said. “But we [also] have had great leadership here in the pandemic. Our kids have worked very hard, and there was lots of work ethic and commitment to excellence instilled in our kids.
When we didn’t have them, they were working very hard to prepare for the upcoming season, not knowing if we were going to have it.”
Pick the sport, and it would seem the chances of the Argyle Eagles being successful are tremendous. But how could a town of fewer than 5,000 people be so dominant season after season?
It’s all about the culture and the community that surrounds the school.
“[It’s about] extreme effort, intense effort,” Rodgers said. “Team is really at the forefront [of the program]. Our community [also] does as good a job as anybody in the state of Texas of having multi-sport athletes.”
As you look at the record and results, It’s hard to pinpoint which sport has been the most dominant over these years. There doesn’t seem to be anything stopping this juggernaut of a program anytime soon. Could they have a down year? Yes.
But one thing is for sure. No matter the field of play, the Argyle Eagles will be there until the final whistle blows.
“We’re not extravagant,” Rodgers said. “We have a blue-collar mindset. We’re going to put our work in, grab our lunch pale and go to work every day, and execute at the highest level [we can].”
