WILLY RABY TRACK COACH (1952-1980) ABOUT WILLY

Wilburn “Willy” Raby coached football, track and cross country for 28 years in Pasadena ISD.

A Corsicana native, Willy played football and basketball throughout high school and went on to honorably serve in the United States Navy during World War II. He attended Navarro College in Corsicana and Daniel Baker College, playing football at both schools. Willy graduated with a B.S. and then a M.S. from Sam Houston State University.

Willy began his long-standing coaching career in Pasadena ISD in 1952, with a two-year stint leading some of the greatest athletes in the district. Some of these athletic standouts claimed many individual and team victories, earning a place on the wall of the Pasadena ISD Athletics Hall of Fame Museum, such as Larry May, Randall Kerbow, Carl Choate, David Webb and the late Bert Coan, who was a player on the historial Kansas City Chiefs team that competed in Super Bowl I in 1967.

In 1954, Willy embarked on a nine-year run as the head football and basketball coach at Southmore Jr. High School, alongside Coach Don Cole. Built with an indoor pool that was started by Willy, Sam Sailer and Weldon Phillips, Southmore hosted the Pasadena ISD Athletics Department’s summer swimming program for 18 years. The lessons were instructed by PISD coaches, who lived by the phrase, “If kids live this close to the Gulf Coast, they need to know how to swim.”

Willy continued to teach, train and mentor student athletes at Sam Rayburn High School in football as a defensive back coach and as the head track and cross-country coach for 16 years, starting in 1964. Willy led the Texans cross country team to two district team championship titles, one regional team title, with seven state meet qualifiers. His track and field team claimed six district team championship titles, 139 regional qualifiers, 28 state meet qualifiers and a regional qualifier in the 4x100 relay.

During several state meets, with Willy at the helm, students made their mark in track and field. Lee Lucas, for example, finished second in the state at South Houston, with John Harper winning second in discus. Some of the best performances included one of his students setting the No. 1 national record in the 4x200 meter relay, clocking in at 1:27:9. Andy Snelson ran the 100-meter dash in 9.4, while Mark Vincent ran 1:56 in the 800 meters. Willy moved to New Mexico and coached the girls track and field team to three back-to-back state championships.

Willy is also proud of his family, including his daughter, Lynda and son Fred. During the 1962-64 football seasons, while Willy was coaching at Rayburn, his son Fred played quarterback for South Houston High School under Coach Harry Morgan, earning himself a scholarship to Texas Tech University.

While Willy enjoys the many victories his teams achieved throughout his years of coaching, he feels a sense of pride knowing that he made a difference in the lives of so many students along the way. Willy set a standard of excellence that will continue on for future generations to come.

Willy retired from Pasadena ISD in 1980. In 2012, he was recognized for his excellent coaching career as an inductee of the Texas Gulf Coast Scholastic Track & Field Coaches Hall of Honor.

On April 8th, surrounded by former students, family and friends, Coach Raby celebrated his 95th birthday. While he resides in Groesbeck, he still calls Pasadena home and continues to be an avid sports fan all with an attitude of discipline and determination to “keep on keeping on” just the way he coached.