IRVING, Texas (Feb. 22, 2018) - The National Football Foundation (NFF) Gridiron Club of Dallas Chapter announced today the 2018 major award winners who will be honored during the club's 10th Annual Awards Banquet on Sunday, March 18, at 6 p.m. CT at the Dallas/Addison Marriott Quorum by the Galleria. Award-winning sportscaster Scott Murray will emcee for the 10th consecutive year.

The 2018 major award winners include:

• Hayden Fry, College Football Hall of Fame Coach at SMU, North Texas and Iowa – Legends Award (previously announced)
• Roland Rainey, Cotton Bowl Stadium General Manager – Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award
• Smith Holder, Dallas Football Officials Association crew chief – Steve Storie Official of the Year
• Pat Doney, NBC 5/KXAS-TV sports anchor and reporter – Media Person of the Year
• Colby Carthel, Texas A&M University-Commerce – College Coach of the Year
• Terry Gambill, Allen High School – Large High School Coach of the Year
• Brady Carney, Muenster High School – Small High School Coach of the Year
• Cory Cain, Allen High School – Assistant High School Coach of the Year
• Don Woods, Highland Park High School – Assistant High School Coach of the Year

The awardees will join the collegiate and high school scholar-athletes who will be announced soon. A number of scholarships will be distributed to several of the high school scholar-athletes at the event.

“All of our 2018 honorees have built tremendous careers geared toward making football in North Texas great,” said Gerald Brence, president of the NFF Gridiron Club of Dallas Chapter and athletics director for the Plano Independent School District. “They have all enjoyed considerable success, and it is our pleasure to recognize each of their efforts.”

The event will showcase the great stories in North Texas that will inspire future student-athletes to excel in the classroom and become more involved in their communities. The event also provides a key platform for recognizing the contributions of the football leaders in the region who have placed North Texas football among the best in the nation. This year's honorees have been selected for their outstanding accomplishments and lasting community impact.

The event has attracted a sellout crowd of 500-plus people each of the past nine years. For more information on 2018 tickets and/or banquet sponsorship opportunities, please contact club president Gerald Brence at 469-878-5370 or via email at Gerald.Brence@pisd.edu.

The NFF Gridiron Club of Dallas is one of 120 nationwide chapters of the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame. The NFF is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, The William V. Campbell Trophy^® presented by Fidelity Investments, the NFF Scholar-Athlete Awards presented by Fidelity Investments, the NFF High School Showcases, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society and scholarships of more than $1.3 million for college and high school scholar-athletes.

2018 NFF Gridiron Club of Dallas Major Award Honoree Bios

Legends Award – Hayden Fry
For 37 years, Hayden Fry was one of the most recognizable faces in college football, and when he retired, his 232 wins placed him 10th all-time in college history. He received college football’s ultimate honor when he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003. After coaching on the high school level, and for two years as a college assistant, he received his first collegiate head-coaching job at SMU. His wide-open style fit the Southwest Conference, and he led the 1966 Mustangs to their first SWC title since 1948. Fry made one of the biggest impacts on college football in the South at SMU when he recruited future College Football Hall of Famer Jerry LeVias in 1965, making him the first African-American scholarship athlete and the second African-American football player in the Southwest Conference. In six seasons at the University of North Texas, Fry won 40 games including 19 in his last two seasons. Before his arrival, the school had won seven games in the previous three seasons. Fry is best known for sparking a resurgence at Iowa, where his teams were 143-89-6 over 20 seasons. In 1981, he coached the Hawkeyes to their first winning season in 19 years with a Big-Ten co-championship and a berth in the Rose Bowl, the school's first bowl appearance in 23 years. Fry won two other Big Ten titles to send the Hawkeyes to Pasadena. Click here for the full release on Fry being named the Legends Award recipient.

Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football Award – Roland Rainey
As the general manager of Cotton Bowl Stadium, Roland Rainey has had a hand in some of North Texas’ biggest football moments. He was hired by the City of Dallas to his current position in 1993 before the historic Dallas stadium hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In 2008, Rainey helped oversee the expansion and renovation of the historic stadium, built in 1932, from a 46,000-seat stadium to a 92,100-seat venue today. During his tenure, he has helped coordinate 25 bowl games at Fair Park, including the Cotton Bowl Classic, which was held in the stadium through 2009, and now the Heart of Dallas Bowl, which has been played since 2011. He is also involved in the annual Red River Showdown between Texas and Oklahoma, the State Fair Classic between Grambling State and Prairie View A&M and the newly added State Fair Football Showdown between Southern and Texas Southern. Under Rainey’s watch, the legendary venue has hosted hundreds of high school football games, and it served as the home of SMU football in the late 1990s. From 1976-93, Rainey served as the assistant athletics director for operations and facilities at SMU while also hosting high school playoffs and 21 Cotton Bowl Classics, among numerous other events. Before moving into administration, he was an assistant coach at Bonham High School, Oklahoma State and SMU. An alumnus of Austin College, Rainey played football for the Roos from 1967-68 and is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame.

Steve Storie Official of the Year – Smith Holder
Smith Holder has served as a Texas high school football official for 45 years. A longtime member of the Dallas Football Officials Association (DFOA), his various positions for the organization have included stints as president and vice president. In 2013, Holder was awarded the Percy Penn Award for contributions to officiating by the DFOA. An active crew chief for the past 24 seasons, he has called multiple deep-level playoff games, including seven state semifinals. When not officiating, Holder is in national business development at Value Lighting Inc.

Media Person of the Year – Pat Doney
A member of the NBC 5/KXAS-TV on-air team since 2013, Pat Doney is an award-winning sports anchor and reporter whose passion is storytelling. In addition to coverage of the local professional and college teams, he hosts the network’s high school programs: “Inside High School Sports” and “Big Game Friday.” In addition to the big games each week, the programs allow Doney to share the region’s inspirational and unique high school stories that might otherwise go untold. A recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award for sports reporting, he has been nominated for an Emmy six times. A graduate of Liberty University, Doney’s 12 years of experience covering sports include stops in Central Virginia, Fayetteville, Ark., and Louisville, Ky., and he has reported at the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the Final Four and the Kentucky Derby.

College Coach of the Year – Colby Carthel, Texas A&M-Commerce
In his fifth season as the head coach at Texas A&M-Commerce, Colby Carthel led the Lions to a 14-1 record and the 2017 NCAA Division II National Championship following a 37-27 victory over West Florida. His Lions became the first team in Division II football history to claim the "Triple Crown" of the National Championship, the Harlon Hill Trophy (Luis Perez), and the NCAA Elite 90 Award (Garrett Blubaugh). Boasting a 49-15 career record, Carthel is the only A&M-Commerce coach to lead his team to the postseason in five-straight seasons, including two bowl games and three consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II Playoffs. In his five seasons with the Lions, he has mentored 126 all-Lone Star Conference selections and 16 All-Americans. Carthel’s success and influence has extended off the field, and nearly 70 of his student-athletes were named to honor rolls in fall 2017 while the team amassed more than 400 hours of community service in Port Aransas cleaning up from Hurricane Harvey.

Large High School Coach of the Year – Terry Gambill, Allen
In just his second year as Allen’s head football coach, Terry Gambill guided the Eagles to a perfect 16-0 record and a 35-33 victory over Austin Lake Travis for the 2017 6A Division I state title. During his first season at Allen in 2016, he guided the team to the state semifinals and a 14-1 record. Gambill came to Allen after serving as the head coach at Midway High School in Waco, where he compiled a 68-13 overall record from 2010-15. Highlights of his tenure in Midway include a trip to the 4A Division I state final in 2011 and a berth in the 5A Division II state quarterfinals in 2012. His overall head coaching record is currently 98-14. Prior to Midway, Gambill was the defensive coordinator at Allen for nine seasons, and he helped the Eagles to their first state title in 2008. Boasting more than 30 years of coaching experience, he had previous stints at Garland, Duncanville, Forney and Southlake Carroll, where he was the secondary coach on the Dragons’ 1993 state championship team. After graduating from Garland High School, Gambill lettered four years at Tarleton State (Texas) and earned all-conference and honorable mention All-America honors in 1983.

Small High School Coach of the Year – Brady Carney, Muenster
Brady Carney led Muenster High School a perfect 16-0 season in 2017 and the school’s first 2A Division II state title after a 27-20 victory over Tenaha. The head football coach and athletics director at Muenster since 2010, he has compiled a 95-13 record while also leading his teams to six district titles, six regional championships and two quarterfinal championships. Carney previously served as an assistant coach at Prosper and Lindsay, where he coached the 2010 track and field state champions. Before receiving his bachelor’s degree from North Texas in 2002, he graduated from Collinsville High School, the firefighters academy and North Central Texas College.

Assistant High School Coach of the Year – Cory Cain, Allen
In his eighth year as Allen’s defensive coordinator, Cory Cain helped lead the Eagles to a perfect 16-0 record and a 35-33 victory over Austin Lake Travis for the 2017 6A Division I state title. Cain has now helped Allen win five state titles in 10 years, serving as defensive coordinator for the Eagles’ three-peat from 2012-14 and as an assistant for the school’s first title in 2008. Twice named the Billy Whitman Assistant Coach of the Year, his defensive unit allowed a mere 15.8 points and 253.0 yards per game in 2017. Before coming to Allen in 2006, Cain had coaching stops at Red Oak, Kaufman and Wichita Falls Hirschi. A former linebacker at MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.), he graduated from Midwestern State (Texas). 

Assistant High School Coach of the Year – Don Woods, Highland Park
Highland Park defensive coordinator Don Woods helped lead the Scots (15-1) to their second consecutive 5A Division I state title in 2017 following a 53-49 victory over Manvel. This season marked his fourth year as defensive coordinator and eighth overall on the Highland Park staff. Boasting 37 years of coaching experience, Woods previously had stints at Rockwall-Heath, Mesquite Horn, Lake Highlands, Mesquite, Richardson J.J. Pearce, West Mesquite, Emporia State University (Kan.) and Austin College (Texas). He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Austin College where he was a four-year letterman and a member of the Roos’ 1981 NAIA National Championship team.