Remarkable…that was the word that echoed throughout the hallways of Sam Rayburn High School in 1968. ‘Cause you see the Texans’ that year had exactly that…a remarkable season.

After being picked fourth in the district by most pre-season polls, the Mighty Texans out-classed everyone to capture the District 23-AAAA crown!! Anchored by the PISD’s meanest defense, the champs were spearheaded by an explosive offense that turned into a 20-point per game output. These two forces were trained and strengthened through the leadership of the finest coaches in the area – Head Football Coach James, (or as some of you know him “Jimmy”) McNeil, along with Coach Gillioz, Coach Thomas and Coach Raby. As Rayburn’s first head football coach and athletics director in 1963, it only took five years to mold a group of spirited and under-rated football players into Rayburn’s 1^st District Champions!!,

James had clearly taken what he learned as a football player in high school and college with him into his coaching career. He packed the stands as a running back at Pasadena High. And he was considered one of the best recruits at Lamar University because of his versatility on as an offensive and defensive player. In 1949, he scored a whopping 108 points, rushed for 1,266 yards and passed for 629 yards. James was later named “Little All-American” as a cardinal. He was enshrined into the Lamar University Cardinal Football Hall of Fame in 1993,