Lubbock Monterey promotes Childress graduate Jason Sims as new head football coach

A familiar Texas Panhandle name is back in the head coaching saddle with Jason Sims being promoted as head football coach at Lubbock Monterey on Wednesday morning following the approval of the Lubbock ISD board.

Sims spent the past fall as the offensive coordinator for the Plainsman. Sims takes over for coach Judd Thrash after an incident in early April where he was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated and striking a fixture/highway landscape.

“We are excited continue work being done at Monterey,” Lubbock ISD athletic director Mike Meeks said. “We want to keep success rolling and coach Sims gives us that opportunity. He’s a veteran coach wealth with a wealth of knowledge. He has the ability to not only coach players, but he does a great job coaching coaches. We can’t wait to see what he does moving forward.”

Sims echoed Meeks comment.

“I didn’t know if I wanted to be a head coach again,” Sims said. “I’ve never been a big school coach before and I’ve always seen myself as a small school guy. But I see an opportunity with a great team here at Monterey though we’re in a tough region, but the pieces are here to be successful.”

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Prior to his season at Monterey, Sims is best known around these parts for being the head man at his alma mater, Childress. In 2015, Sims was hired at Childress, by the Bobcats after playing for legendary head coach Charlie Johnston from 1989-92.

For seven seasons, Sims and his staff won 61 games at Childress, made seven playoff appearances and had two runs to the state quarterfinals in 2017 and 2020. Following the 2021 season, where Sims led his team to an undefeated regular season and the school’s first district title since 2007, he was surprisingly reassigned by Childress ISD.

From there, he took on an assistant role at Mount Pleasant with head coach Joe Cluley where he continued to grow his knowledge.

“I learned a lot taking a step back into an assistant role,” Sims said. “I truly enjoyed being an assistant again. I learned so much from coach Cluley and continued to grow as a coach. That was a great move for me.”

Coach Cluley couldn’t be more thankful to have a veteran like Sims on his staff.

“Coach Sims is special in so many ways,” said Cluley, who was formerly at Estacado before Mount Pleasant. “He’s a relationship builder but not just with players but also coaches. Coach Sims walks in a room and makes a team better. He’s professional and knows how to keep everyone accountable no matter who it is.”

Sims inherits a Plainsman squad that is coming off their first winning season (6-4) since 2017 and won the program’s first district crown in 18 years.