James Ray Hess (December 1, 1936 – October 2, 2021) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach. He served as the head football coach at

Angelo State University Angelo State University is a public university in San Angelo, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1928 as San Angelo College. It gained university status and awarded its first baccalaureate degrees in 1967 and graduate degrees in 1969, the s ...

San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin (North America), Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert ...

from 1974 to 1981,

Stephen F. Austin State University Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU or SFA) is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas, in the United States. Named after Stephen F. Austin, one of the founders of Texas, SFA was founded as a teachers college in 1923 and built on part ...

Nacogdoches, Texas Nacogdoches ( ) is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and special ...

from 1982 to 1988, and

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; ; lit. 'the crosses') is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the county seat, seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 United States ce ...

from 1990 to 1996, compiling career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coaching record of 134–108–5. Hess led his 1978 Angelo State team to a NAIA Division I Football National Championship. Hess began his coaching career at the high school level in the state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He was also a scout for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL).

Early years

Hess was a native of Farmersville, Texas. He attended Farmersville High School. He later enrolled at

Paris Junior College Paris Junior College (PJC) is a Public college, public community college with three campuses in East Texas: Paris, Texas, Paris, Greenville, Texas, Greenville, and Sulphur Springs, Texas, Sulphur Springs. The college was founded in 1924 as a cam ...

. He transferred to

Southeastern Oklahoma State University Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Southeastern or SE) is a public university in Durant, Oklahoma. It had a total enrollment of 5,376 in 2022. History On March 6, 1909, the Second Oklahoma State Legislature approved an act designating Du ...

after his sophomore season. He received his master's degree from the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

in 1966.

Professional career

Hess began his football coaching career at Farmersville High School in 1959, winning one district title. He then was hired as an assistant at

McKinney High School McKinney High School (MHS) also called McKinney High is located at 1400 Wilson Creek Parkway in McKinney, Texas, and is within the McKinney Independent School District (MISD). MHS is the oldest high school in McKinney and the current building open ...

from 1961 to 1962. He coached at Rockwall High School from 1963 to 1964, where his team captured the 1963 Class AA state championship. He was hired at Kilgore High School from 1965 to 1966. In 1967, he became an assistant coach at Rice University. In 1971, he returned to the high school ranks as the head coach at Sterling High School. In 1972, he was hired at

as the defensive coordinator. He was the head football coach from 1974 to 1981. In 1977, he was named the conference Coach of the Year. In 1978, the team went undefeated (14-0) and won the NAIA Division I Football National Championship, while he received NAIA Coach of the Year honors. He led the Rams to six Top 20 rankings and a 65-23 (.731) mark, at the time the highest winning percentage in school history. He was also one of the few coaches to win more than 100 games at the I-AA level. He coached at

from 1982 to 1988, where he compiled a 47–30–2 record, including a 10–3 mark in his final season. He led the school to five winning seasons, its first-ever conference title in 1985 and earned conference Coach of the Year honors. He resigned at the end of the 1988 season with a 47-30-2 (.608) record, the highest winning percentage in school history at the time. In 1989, he was named the athletic director. During his time with the school, he was instrumental in moving the program from the NAIA to NCAA Division II and into Division I-AA, while helping to renovate the athletic facilities. Hess was named the head coach at

in 1990, where he inherited a 17-game losing streak. Although his Aggie team was called the “worst team in America” in 1992 by

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

, he led the program to its first winning season in 14 years with a 6-5 mark, while being named the Big West Coach of the Year. He was fired in 1996 after his second 1–10 season at the school. He was the fourth winningest coach in school history with a 22-55-0 record. He finished with a career college coaching record of 134–108–5.

Personal life

Hess was hired by the

as an area scout for the Midwest in 1997, where he remained until 2006.

Sean Payton Patrick Sean Payton (born December 29, 1963) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he served as the head coach of the Ne ...

and him are credited with "finding"

Tony Romo Antonio Ramiro Romo (born April 21, 1980) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Eastern Illinois Pan ...

in 2006, then an unknown, undrafted free-agent from Division I-AA Eastern Illinois. Hess later worked for

Daktronics Daktronics, Inc. is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota, that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, dynamic message signs, sound systems, and related products. It was found ...

and as color commentator for football games at

. Hess died at the age of 84 on October 2, 2021.

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hess, Jim 1936 births 2021 deaths American football cornerbacks American football fullbacks Angelo State Rams football coaches Dallas Cowboys scouts New Mexico State Aggies football coaches Paris Dragon football players Rice Owls football coaches Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm baseball players Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm football players Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks athletic directors Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football coaches High school football coaches in Texas University of North Texas alumni People from Farmersville, Texas Players of American football from Collin County, Texas Baseball players from Collin County, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas 20th-century American sportsmen