Coach Antonio Wiley leads Hirschi High School football to dominance

WICHITA FALLS, Texas — Hirschi High School’s football program is on the rise in Texas, as the Wichita Falls school recently came close to the state final. The team went 12-3 in 2021, reaching the state semifinal for the first time since 1964.

Part of the Huskies’ rise to success comes from Antonio Wiley, the team’s head coach. Wiley has been the coach at Hirschi since 2019 after spending a few years as the defensive coordinator at Lewisville High School.

His first year as a coach led to the Huskies going 5-5. The team then went 6-4 in 2020, and eventually to 12-3 in 2021. The team scored 609 points that season, eventually losing to Stephenville in the Conference 4A D1 semifinals. The Huskies were dominant against many of their opponents in 2021, including a 61-0 win over Burkburnett on Oct. 7 and a 32-6 playoff win over Springtown on Dec. 3.

Wiley is a 2001 graduate from Samuel High School in Dallas. He played football at Eastern New Mexico University. He has been coaching high school football for eleven years, including five seasons at Community High School in the small Texas town of Nevada. Other jobs he has held include as a defensive coordinator at Poteet High School in Mesquite and as a safety coach at Lake Travis High School. He helped lead Lake Travis to a state championship title game appearance in 2016.

His last coaching job before coming to Hirschi came as a defensive coordinator at Lewisville. The Fightin’ Farmers limited their opponents to less than 20 points per game in his final year with the team (2018).

Wiley’s arrival in Hirschi came as prior head coach Danny Youngs had been successful with the Huskies in the past few years. Youngs had a 30-29 record with the Huskies, but he had a 21-6 record in his final two years.

School athletic director Scot Hafley is one of Wiley’s strongest supporters. He said that Wiley’s positive personality has been a great part of Wiley’s work since he first arrived.

“When he came into the room, he owned the room from the minute he began,” Halfey said. “The things they were looking for at Hirschi five years ago are a lot different than what we were looking for now.”

Hafley is looking forward to seeing what else Wiley can do for Hirschi in the near future. Wiley’s focus is on helping the Huskies become more successful.

“I want to nurture the success they’ve already had and build on it,” he said. “Success breeds success.”

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