We asked Boynton to walk us through his time and experience at Arlington Sam Houston High School and what we heard next was one of the most disappointing stories I’ve heard since joining the football industry.

Boynton was hired to Arlington Sam Houston High School in 2022, at the age of 25 years old. He was very grateful for the opportunity and eager to find where he fit into the program. That summer Boynton made it a point to attend EVERY summer workout session to show the kids a sense of pride and commitment. “When I got to Sam Houston it did not take long to see the issue with the program. We only had twelve kids consistently come to summer workouts. I knew if we wanted to have any chance at competing that we would have to change that.” Boynton said.

Through the summer Boynton would attend morning and afternoon sessions every day from 8am-5pm. He was very hopeful that his effort would be seen and matched by the players and other coaches. As players became more committed, coaches became more distant.

“It was easy to tell who was really about the grind and who was just there to collect a check. Coach Alexander, Coach Martin, Coach Miller, and Coach Tegeler were with me every step of the grind. I really appreciated them for that.” said Boynton.

After sitting back and watching the Texans practice bad habits for a year that he viewed as an “observation” year — Boynton had a plan for all the problems in the program.

“My first year at Sam, we had another young coach that was more of the vocalist. His name was Coach Reggie Stubblefield. We were both young and I’d watch how the older coaches tried to pit us against one another. I’ve never been one to prioritize anything other than the well-being of the kids. Reggie and I got along great.”

That was until Coach Stubblefield decided to make a return to playing football — signing with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL, where he’d later win a Grey Cup.

When Stubblefield left it allowed space for Boynton to take the bull by the horns and press the gas on his plan. “My plan was called “Operation CARE” centered around commitment, accountability, respect, and effort.” I pitched the idea to Coach James and the staff & they didn’t really give it any thought, so we moved onto offseason programming.”

Boynton, at the time was the Defensive Backs Coach, and felt his voice was not being heard when it came to the overall well-being of the program.

“I hated the fact that in the summer it was me and maybe three other coaches here consistently but, when it was time to make decisions the people with a title made them blindly. It’s one thing if you’re with your guys and learning about them. But, that wasn’t the case. Some of the coaches on that staff would skip offseason workouts and leave practice early, but had the most to say in meetings.”

After countless hours and three summers without a day off, Boynton finally was promoted to the Defensive Coordinator role.

“Even then it did not feel right. The Coordinator before me was fired after doing everything the Head Coach asked him to do. He was blamed for our lack of team success, even though the Head Coach would be responsible for our defensive gameplan. That never sat right with me.” said Boynton.

When Boynton got the job, he promised that there would not be a situation that the defense was not prepared for.

“My job was to get them ready to play at a high level. We did walkthroughs, run throughs, interactive meetings, etc. all to give the players the best chance at success. We were told to leave the field after practice while doing conditioning because the head coach didn’t want us to “outwork the offense.”

With a precedent set, Boynton finally gained enough awareness to approach the head coach about his lackadaisical approach to the upcoming season.

“I remember going to the head coach with a list of problems in the program and hoping he’d give me some power to help change them. When he gave me the greenlight, it was over with! I knew we were going to get some momentum rolling, but I don’t think he truly believed in the mission.”