If you look around the school on a given Friday, the school spirit is evident, and a good majority of those students will be supporting Klein at the football game later that night.

However, most of them would be hard-pressed to name or give credit to the head coach, Shane Hallmark, who is entering his 21st year of coaching and his sixth year at Klein High School, and he looking to add a second playoff appearance in his four years.

Much to the chagrin of many Klein football fans, Coach Hallmark grew up a Dallas Cowboys fan and still is.

“I grew up in Tyler Texas, which is in East Texas, and Dallas was only 80 miles away so they were my favorite team,” he said. “We always watched the Cowboys on Sunday. That was the way it was around my house. Church and Cowboys every Sunday.”

Growing up, he said he loved to watch Earl Campbell and Mike Allstot (a player he knew at Purdue who would go on to win a Super bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), both runners known for their exciting and aggressive running styles.

When asked for his Super Bowl pick, he laughed before exclaiming, “The Cowboys! They are playing good right now, and Dak Prescott has got them going.”

As a multi-sport athlete, Coach Hallmark said he was actually a better baseball player than a football player, but found football to be his passion. When he attended Purdue University, he was a volunteer student assistant for three years.

“Getting to go to stadiums like Michigan Stadium and Notre Dame Stadium–that just fueled my love for the game and I knew I wanted to be a coach,” he said.

He would later go on to receive his Master’s degree from Lamar University. His most notable previous coaching experience before was with Hightower High School, where he led them to a title appearance, before losing to Allen in 2008. He was also named ‘The Houston Touchdown Club coach of the Year’ the same year.

“We need to play mistake free football, win the kicking game, and get back to our style of football,” Hallmark said looking ahead to the rest of the season, which includes rival Klein Collins on Friday.

With the successful year Klein has had so far, Coach Hallmark said he firmly believes that Klein High was ready for a successful year, but stated that even he is surprised by the talent of the younger players who had stepped up, stating that this and the senior leadership on the team, has led to the successful year so far.