Inheriting talent

While Fambrough was in town for an interview, he poked his head into the gymnasium in order to scout out his potential players.

The likes of Hayden Holub, Zack Hardin and Callan Coltharp shooting hoops caught the 36-year-old's eye immediately, and he came away impressed.

"I knew there were athletes here, and I knew they would fit into our offensive scheme that I wanted to run," Fambrough said. "It was a win-win situation."

Fambrough admits he walked into a kitchen pantry filled with groceries. Twelve seniors would be suiting up for him this season, and many of those had played key roles in 2006.

That's why he is quick to praise his assistant coaches, the players, the school and the entire town for Seymour’s quick turnaround.

"They are giving me way too much credit," he said. "A quote I heard growing up is there are two people on a football team that get way too much credit and way too much blame, and that's the quarterback and the head coach. That's the truth."

The Season

Before the playoff victories mounted, a sell had to be made.

Fambrough wanted to install a new offense and defense. Like any first-time head coach, he also had to gain the trust of the team.

That didn't prove to be too difficult.

"He came in here talking like he knew what he was talking about. We just went along with him, and sure enough, he did," said Holub, the team's quarterback. "He knew we had the ability to become good, and he worked with us and stayed with us until the end."

Not only had Pflugerville Connally made the playoffs during all of Fambrough's eight seasons, but the offenses he orchestrated averaged at least 32 points on six different occasions.

"The success that I've had at my previous school, I could bring that in and say here's where it worked and here's how it worked," Fambrough said. "We're going to do the same thing.

"You could tell they wanted it. They wanted to believe it. We just sold it hard that it's a clean slate and this was what we were going to do."

With the Panthers playing Alto Saturday for the Class A title, it's a perfect time to look back at the team's many accomplishments.

Ten wins and the school's first playoff berth since 1999. Becoming the second team to make the state semifinals (1957 was the other one) and then the only team in school history to play for a championship.

And out of the Panthers' three losses, two of them were against ranked unbeaten schools (Cisco and Munday) that are still playing football this weekend.

But Fambrough points to a critical turning point during the early stages of the season.

The Panthers were nursing a one-point lead in the fourth quarter against Jacksboro in the season opener. With tough matchups against Cisco and Olney looming, it was imperative the Panthers win their first contest.

Seymour put together an impressive drive in the fourth quarter, which ended with Hardin's 8-yard touchdown catch. The Panthers won the game, 22-14.

"If that drive didn't work out, I don't know that we’d have the success down the road that we've had," the coach said. "We won that game, and they really sold into it at that point.

"They saw it worked, and from then on, it's just been building and learning and growing."

Even though Fambrough said the Panthers are "10 times the team we were" at the start of the season, the first-year coach admits it’s still a learning process.

Come Saturday afternoon in Midlothian, the Panthers will finally learn what playing for a state title feels like.

And Fambrough is a big reason why.

Staff sports writer Zach Duncan can be reached weekdays after 4 p.m. by calling 720-3470 or 1-800-627-1646. Or e-mail him at duncanz(at)timesrecordnews.com.