Aledo High School head football coach Tim Buchanan is retiring at the end of the current school year after 30 years with the school.
Buchanan joined the school in 1993 and quickly built a football powerhouse, winning eight state championships in two different stints as the Bearcats’ head coach. His teams were 8-0 in state championship games, tying him with G.A. Moore (Celina/Pilot Point) for the third-most titles by one coach in state history.
Both trail America’s winningest high school football coach, the late Gordon Wood (Brownwood), and Scott Surratt (Carthage) by just one after the Bearcats (14-2) defeated College Station in the Class 5A Division I State Championship in December.
The first state championship for Aledo came in 1998, but the next would not come for another 11 years.
The Bearcats won the 2009 state title to start a run of five championships in seven years.
After the 2013 season, Buchanan stepped down as football coach and became Aledo High’s athletic director.
Current athletic director Steve Wood coached the team in his place from 2014 through 2018 and won three more state championships.
Wood, the team’s defensive coordinator for 15 years before becoming head coach, also announced his retirement after 21 years at Aledo High School on Friday.
“It’s been on my mind. I’ve done this for a while,” Wood told the Dallas Express in an interview. “Ya know, there comes a time, everybody always told me, that I would know. And I know that it’s time.”
“I’m not tired of it,” he added. “It’s not old. Nobody pushed me out the door. It’s just time. I’m very happy. I’m gonna spend some time with my wife because she’s been the ultimate coach’s wife.”
Buchanan retired as athletic director in 2018 but returned to coaching football in 2019, winning three more titles to give Aledo a state record 11 (with ten coming in the past 13 seasons).
Buchanan retires with a 281-58-3 record in 25 combined seasons as the head football coach.
He was recently elected to the Texas High School Coaches Association’s Hall of Honor and will be inducted in July.
“It didn’t take long for me to realize I really missed coaching,” Buchanan told WFAA Dallas on Friday.
“So when I got a chance in 2019 to come back as head coach, I jumped on the opportunity. I had four unforgettable years, getting to work with hundreds of really great kids, but almost 63 years old, it’s time to retire.”
Offensive coordinator Robby Jones, who has been with the program for 22 years as the offensive coordinator, has been named his successor.
“It was the right choice,” Wood told the Dallas Express. “All of our coaches are intact. Our kids have the same coaches they did. Robby has called the offense for ten state championship games and is very deserving. Our kids are in good hands with Robby Jones.”
