Gainesville ISD is proud to announce the hiring of GHS alumni Neil Searcy as the Athletic Director and Head Football coach for the Leopards. Searcy is a 1990 graduate of Gainesville High School and the 2022-2023 school year will be his 25th year in education. Most recently, Coach Searcy has been the Head Football Coach and Campus Athletic Coordinator at Killeen High School for the past six years.
Searcy attended Texas A&M University – Commerce, where he played football all four years. He began his teaching career and in 1999, he briefly returned home to Gainesville for one year to teach and coach football, basketball, and track. In 2000, Searcy moved his coaching and teaching career to Killeen High School and in 2004, he became the Defensive Coordinator. From 2006 – 2010, Searcy was the Head Football coach and Campus Athletic Coordinator at Wichita Falls Hirschi High School. He then returned to Killeen HS in August 2011 as a Special Education teacher and Defensive Coordinator. In March of 2015, Searcy was named Campus Athletic Coordinator/Head Football Coach for the Killeen Kangaroos.
“It’s truly great to be a Leopard again! I take great pride and honor to be the AD/Head Football Coach at Gainesville High School and to be a part of the Gainesville ISD family,” Searcy said. “I’m excited about the opportunity to lead such a storied program. The future is bright and me and my family are ready to come home!”
Searcy and his wife, Kristin, have been married for 21 years. Kristin is the Student Activities Coordinator at Killeen High School. They have three children; Peyton (25) graduated from Killeen HS in 2015 and then went on to graduate from Texas A&M University-Commerce in 2019. He is now a graduate assistant at TCU for the football team. Landry (18) will be graduating from Killeen High in May and will be attending Tarleton State University in the fall. Cade (16) will be a junior next year and he plays football, baseball, and runs track.
Searcy follows behind Coach James Polk, who has accepted a coaching position at Weatherford High School. Polk was the AD/Head Football Coach at GISD for six years.
