Athletic coach hired as new AgriLife Extension 4-H agent in Wichita County
Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Donny Gray, 940-716-8610, Donny.gray@ag.tamu.edu
WICHITA FALLS – Donny Gray may have spent years as a football coach, but he doesn’t expect to have a difficult time transitioning to his new position as the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service 4-H youth development agent in Wichita County.
“We are pleased to have Donny,” said Miles Dabovich, AgriLife Extension district administrator in Vernon. “His experience in leading and working with youth will be a great asset to the Wichita County 4-H program.”
Gray, a native of Stratford who started July 5 in Wichita County, said he will still be teaching kids and providing the same kind of guidance he tried to instill on the football field.
“My goal in life, whether in coaching or 4-H, is to influence kids,” he said. “I think there is a missing link in some of these kids’ life, and I want to provide that and help turn them into great citizens.”
Gray earned a bachelor’s degree from Tarleton State in exercise and sports study and went on to be an assistant coach at Cisco Junior College in Cisco, Trinity Valley Community College in Athens and McMurry University in Abilene. He left McMurry as the head football coach and then took positions at Trinity High School, North Dallas High School and Tulia High School as the athletic director and head football coach.
“I’ve been involved in 4-H all my life, and now that my daughter is very involved in it, our family was spending as much time in 4-H as we were athletics,” he said. “It’s something I’ve always loved, and my friends were encouraging me to think about becoming an agent.”
This opportunity provided him the chance to spend more time with his own children, ages 10, 4 and 2, he said. Wichita Falls also offered an urban and rural community mix that was of interest and similar to what he had worked with in athletics.
“It provides me with both challenges and opportunities,” Gray said.
“My biggest goal is to start building the 4-H numbers; get more kids involved in the clubs. We have 11 clubs. I want to expand the horizons of the youth in this county and let them know what they can get involved in through 4-H. There’s the traditional livestock, but also photography and food challenge or public speaking or many other things. I don’t think people understand what all 4-H has to offer them.”
