When James Balcom left Coppell in 2015 to become the head boys soccer coach at Eaton, he had a gut feeling that he would return to the Cowboys in some capacity.
Two years later, Balcom reunited with Coppell – this time as head coach, after he had previously served as an assistant under then head coach Chad Rakestraw. The Cowboys, who won the state title in 2015, continued to flourish under Balcom’s watch, including an appearance in the state tournament in his first year at the helm.
But after helping to guide Coppell to a 25th consecutive playoff appearance this season, Balcom has decided to hang up his whistle and pursue a career outside of education. He recently turned in a letter of resignation to Coppell ISD and plans to work for a roofing company that is owned by one of his friends.
"When it's something that you've done for 15 years, it's always tough to kind of go challenge yourself and do something different,” he said. “In the end, when it looked like things weren't going to change and get better, it became a little bit easier."
Balcom landed his first coaching job at San Marcos and spent one year there before moving to Coppell. After six years as an assistant at Coppell followed by two years at Eaton, Balcom led the Cowboys to playoff appearances in each of his five seasons at the helm.
Coppell’s chances of extending its two-decade-long playoff streak appeared to be bleak after the Cowboys began district play this year with a mark of 0-4-4. However, Coppell made a dramatic turnaround and went 5-0-1 in its last five games in the regular season to clinch yet another playoff berth.
A hat trick by team captain Walker Stone in Coppell’s 3-1 victory over Plano West on Feb. 22 served as the catalyst for the Cowboys’ late-season push.
"From the outside and looking in, and now reflecting on it, it does kind of open your eyes to what those kids accomplished,” Balcom said. “In the middle of it, we knew that we had the team to put together something special. Every district game that we played outside of Plano, we had opportunities to win. We were just kind of waiting for that break to change our fortunes."
In his five seasons at the helm, Balcom went 67-38-15 overall and 40-17-12 in district play.
“The last five years have been a lot of fun,” he said. “The kids have worked hard. Good coaches around us as well. Competing in one of the tougher districts in the state makes every game a lot of fun.”
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