Todd Russell Dodge (born July 21, 1963) is 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 and former player, and current head coach at
Lovejoy High School in Lucas, Texas. After graduating from the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
where he played
quarterback
The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
for the
Longhorns, Dodge went into coaching, primarily at the
high school level. At Southlake Carroll he was head coach of four 5A state championship teams in a seven-year span.
He moved on to the college level as head coach of 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 ...
football team
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...
, but he was released after acquiring a 6–37 record. After coaching the quarterbacks at the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...
for the 2011 season, he returned to high school coaching in 2012.
Playing career
Dodge played quarterback at
Thomas Jefferson High School in
Port Arthur, Texas
Port Arthur is a city in the state of Texas, United States of America, located east of metro Houston. Part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, the city lies primarily in Jefferson County, with a small extension in Orange County. ...
, under coach
Ronnie Thompson where he set several state records. As a senior in 1980, Dodge set the record for most passing yards in a season and became the first quarterback in Texas high school football history to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a season (3,135 yards). That same season, he led Jefferson High to the 1980 Class 4A state championship game against
Permian High School
Permian High School is a public high school located in Odessa, Texas and is one of two high schools in the Ector County Independent School District. It was the subject of the book '' Friday Night Lights'', which in turn inspired a movie and TV ...
of
Odessa, Texas
Odessa () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, Ector County with portions extending into Midland County, Texas, Midland County.
Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...
.
He also set Texas high school records for most career completions (382) and most completions in a season (221); while finishing his career with the second most career passing yards behind
Gary Kubiak
Gary Wayne Kubiak (born August 15, 1961) is an American former professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a quarterback for the Denver Broncos before coaching, serving as head coach for the Houst ...
.
Dodge went on to play quarterback at the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
under coach
Fred Akers
Frederick Sanford Akers (March 17, 1938 – December 7, 2020) was an American football player and coach. He served as head football coach at the University of Wyoming (1975–1976), the University of Texas at Austin (1977–1986), and Purdue Uni ...
. From 1982 to 1983, Dodge was a backup quarterback, though he did get his first start as a freshman in the 1982
Sun Bowl
The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...
when
Robert Brewer broke his hand 5 days before the game. In that game the #8 Longhorns were upset by North Carolina 26–10, in the snow, with Dodge going 6-22 for just 50 yards.
In 1983, Dodge was named the starter for the opening game, but a shoulder injury in the final preseason scrimmage on Sep 9, sidelined him for a month and he didn't reclaim the starting role until early November. In late October he twice came in off the bench to replace starter
Rob Moerschell and rally the Longhorns to wins. He came in late to throw the go-ahead touchdown pass in the 15–12 win over SMU,
[ and early the following week to lead the Longhorns to a 20–3 win over Texas Tech. The next week he got his first start of the season in a 9-3 lackluster win over Houston. But after struggling in the TCU game the next week and being replaced by Moerschell, he didn't play the remainder of the year. Despite the quarterback troubles that resulted in rotating starters, the Longhorns went undefeated during the regular season and, but for a disappointing loss to Georgia in the Cotton Bowl, would have won the national championship.
The Longhorns entered the 1984 season ranked #4 with Dodge again as the starter. The team started with back-to-back wins over ranked opponents, #11 Auburn and #4 Penn State. Texas rose to a #1 ranking, which it lost after a controversial 15–15 tie with #3 Oklahoma, but went on to win 3 more games, including a win over #14 SMU to start the season 6–0–1. But the title run was ended during a 29–15 loss to Houston in which Dodge threw 0 completions in his first 13 passes (but 4 of his 5 record interceptions) and was benched for Bret Stafford. Dodge led the team to a win over #12 TCU the next week, but lost again to Baylor in the following game—while setting school records for single season passing yards and completions. The season finished with two more losses, to Texas A&M when Dodge was benched for Stafford, and to Iowa in the 1984 ]Freedom Bowl
The Freedom Bowl was an annual post-season college football bowl game played at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, from 1984 to 1994.
The bowl frequently invited a team from the Western Athletic Conference to compete against an at-large opp ...
when the Longhorns gave up 55 points, the most since 1904.[
Dodge and Stafford started the 1985 season in the middle of a heated quarterback battle, which Stafford won. After splitting time in the first three games, Dodge got a chance to retake the quarterback position when Stafford was pulled six plays into the Oklahoma game, but Dodge threw 2 interceptions and could only muster 53 yards allowing Stafford to retain the starting role the next week against Arkansas. Dodge would not see significant playing time again until the final game of the regular season when he came off the bench versus Texas A&M to score the Longhorns only touchdown that day.
Dodge finished with a career record of 9-5-1 and several passing records. He still ranks ninth on the UT all-time passing list with 2,791 yards and stands ninth in TD passes with 18. His 359 passing yards in Texas' 44–16 win over ]Rice
Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
in 1985 stood as the Longhorn single-game record for 13 years before James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
broke it with a 397-yard passing day against Texas Tech
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...
in 1997. Dodge's passing effort currently ranks fourth on the UT single-game chart, behind Major Applewhite
Major Lee Applewhite (born July 26, 1978) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for the University of South Alabama, a position he has held since 2024. Prior to that he was the head coach at the Un ...
, Colt McCoy
Daniel "Colt" McCoy (born September 5, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, winning several award ...
, and Brown. His 96-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Pitts in the 1985 Rice game is still tied for the second longest in school history.
Records
*Texas High School Record- Most passing yards, season (3,135), surpassed by Wilbur Odom in 1986
*UT - Passing Yards, Game (359); surpassed by James Brown in 1997
*UT - Passing Yards, Season (1,599), surpassed by Bret Stafford in 1986
*''UT - Highest Average Gain per completion, game (32.6)''
*''UT - Passes intercepted, Game (5) tied with Zeke Martin, Stafford, Garrett Gilbert''
*''UT - Passes intercepted, Season (19)''
*UT - Longest Pass Play (96 yards), pass to Donovon Pitts; surpassed by Major Applewhite
Major Lee Applewhite (born July 26, 1978) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for the University of South Alabama, a position he has held since 2024. Prior to that he was the head coach at the Un ...
in 1998
*UT - Longest Scoring Play (96 yards), pass to Donovon Pitts; surpassed by Major Applewhite
Major Lee Applewhite (born July 26, 1978) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for the University of South Alabama, a position he has held since 2024. Prior to that he was the head coach at the Un ...
in 1998
''Italic'' means active
High school coaching career
Soon after graduation, Dodge pursued a coaching career at the high school level. His first stop was at Rockwall in 1987, where he coached the quarterbacks and wide receiver
A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
s. That year, the team made an appearance at the 4A state championship game against West Orange–Stark. Dodge then became offensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...
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 ...
under head coach Ron Poe. By 1991, Poe yielded to Dodge's persuasion and agreed to try the spread offense
:''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.''
The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the offense horizontal ...
. Dodge came up with a hybrid between the Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
's run and shoot offense
The run and shoot offense (also known as Run N' Shoot) is an offensive system for American football which emphasizes receiver motion and on-the-fly adjustments of receivers' routes in response to different defenses. It was conceived by former ...
, the Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
's three- and five-step drops, and a zone running game. McKinney reached the 4A Regionals in 1991.
After a two-year stint as an assistant coach at North Texas
North Texas is a term used primarily by residents of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to refer to a geographic area of Texas, generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, Texas, Abilene, west of Paris, Texas, Par ...
, Dodge became a head coach, first at C.H. Yoe High School in Cameron, then at Carrollton Newman-Smith and Keller Fossil Ridge high schools.
In 2000, Dodge became head coach at Southlake Carroll, where he had his greatest success. Southlake Carroll had won 3A state championships in 1988, 1992 and 1993, but had since then moved on to 5A, the largest classification in the state. Dodge coached his first state championship team in 2002, when the school won the 5A (Division II) state championship with a 45–14 victory over Smithson Valley High School
Smithson Valley High School (commonly referred to as SVHS) is a public high school located in unincorporated Comal County, Texas, and is classified as a 5A school by the UIL. It is part of the Comal Independent School District and is one of th ...
. A year later, he led them back to the championship game where they lost by one point to Katy High School
Katy High School is a high school located in Katy, Texas, Katy, Texas which serves grades 9 through 12. It is a part of the Katy Independent School District. The school serves the City of Katy and draws students from Harris County, Texas, Harris ...
. Dodge's Southlake Carroll then proceeded to win three straight championships from 2004 to 2007, tying the state record set by Abilene High School's in the 1950s. In addition, each of those teams was recognized as mythical national champions by either ''USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' (2004, '06) or ''National Prep Poll'' (2004, '05). ''Schutt Sports'' named Dodge "National Coach of the Year" in 2004 and by ''USA Today'' in 2005. After the 2006 season, Dodge left Southlake Carroll to coach at the University of North Texas. During his seven seasons at Southlake Carroll, Dodge's teams had a 98–11 record overall.
College coaching career
North Texas
The North Texas Mean Green
North Texas Mean Green (formerly North Texas Eagles) represents the University of North Texas (UNT) in intercollegiate athletics. The teams compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). North Tex ...
hired Dodge on December 12, 2006, as the new head football coach of the football team
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...
, replacing former coach Darrell Dickey
Darrell Ray Dickey (born December 6, 1959) is an American football coach.
He was most recently an offensive analyst for the Georgia Bulldogs during the 2023 season.
Prior to joining the Georgia program, he was the offensive coordinator for th ...
, who was fired on November 8 after going 2–9 in 2005 and 3–9 in 2006.
2007
During his first season as head coach, UNT went 2–10. Dodge's spread offense
:''"Spread offense" may also refer to the four corners offense in basketball.''
The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the offense horizontal ...
averaged 408.4 total yards and 24.8 points per game while giving up 39 sacks. Dodge brought most of his original college coaching staff from the high school ranks, and the team struggled to compete against non-conference and Sun Belt
The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered stretching across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the Parallel 36°30′ north. Several climates can be found in the re ...
foes. UNT's defensive squad, directed by Ron Mendoza, gave up an FBS-worst 45.1 points per game. Soon after the season ended, Dodge dismissed Mendoza.
2008
For the 2008 season, Dodge hired Gary DeLoach as the team's new defensive coordinator. Deloach had a terrific run as UNT's secondary coach from 1998 to 2000 and was a fan favorite for his stellar work as defensive coordinator from 2000 to 2002. Even with dramatically improved coaching, the Mean Green defense lacked experienced, developed talent. The defense allowed 47.6 points per game in 2008, the worst number at the FBS level that year. The offense also regressed, averaging only 20.0 points per game and allowing 25 sacks. The team's special teams units were among the worst in the country in most categories. That year, quarterback Riley Dodge, Todd Dodge's son, joined the team. The team finished with a dismal 1–11 record, its only win over FBS transitional Western Kentucky.
2009
Dodge focused heavily on upgrading the team's defensive talent with several good recruits from the junior college ranks in 2009. The defense improved, giving up an average of 36.4 PPG, including 28.8 PPG in the last four games when the new talent jelled. Although the offensive line held opposing teams to 12 sacks all season, the offense had 21 fumbles and 17 interceptions during the season. The kicking game suffered from several blocked field goals, and the team finished the 2009 season with a 2–10 record.
2010
UNT opted to retain Todd Dodge for the 2010 season. It was understood that Dodge had to produce a winning season to keep his job.
On October 20, 2010, UNT athletics director Rick Villarreal fired Dodge. Dodge had compiled a 6–37 record.
During his tenure, UNT was consistently rated in the bottom ten by ESPN.
Offensive coordinator Mike Canales took over as interim head coach.
Going into the 2013 season, Athlon Sports rated Todd Dodge as the seventh worst college football tenure in the BCS era.
Pittsburgh
Dodge was named the quarterbacks coach at the University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...
on January 18, 2011. He held the position for one season before returning to coach high school football in Texas.
Return to high school coaching
In January 2012, Pittsburgh's head football coach Todd Graham left to become the head coach at Arizona State. Dodge was not retained by Pitt after the coaching change, and decided to move back to the Texas high school coaching ranks, taking over as head coach at Marble Falls High School.
In 2014, Dodge left Marble Falls to take over the program at football powerhouse Austin Westlake High School in Eanes Independent School District. Dodge took the Westlake Chapparrals to the State Championship game in 2015 but lost to Galena Park North Shore 21–14 in overtime. He took the Lone Star Gridiron Class 6A Coach of the Year honors for the season. He went on to win State Championships in the 6A division in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 seasons, becoming the first Texas high school football coach to win 3-straight championships with 2 different schools. He announced after the 2020 season that he will be retiring from high school football coaching after the 2021 season.
The 2020 UIL 6A Division 1 state championship game marked the end of a strange season already marred by the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Things got even weirder with Westlake matched against Southlake Carroll, one of Dodge's previous teams, coached by his son, Riley Dodge. Westlake prevailed, 52–34, in the father-son coaching matchup, finishing the season as state champs at 14–0.
In January 2024, Dodge came out of retirement to take the head coaching job at Lovejoy High School in Lucas, Texas
Lucas is a city in Collin County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 5,166, up from 2,890 at the 2000 census; in 2020, its population was 7,612.
Geography
Lucas is located in south central Collin County and is border ...
.
Personal life
Dodge is married to Elizabeth Neptune, daughter of Ebbie Neptune, longtime athletic director and football coach at Westlake High School of Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
. The couple have a son, Riley Dodge, who played wide receiver and quarterback at North Texas, and a daughter, Molly.
In 1985, while finishing up his degree at Texas, Dodge was badly injured in a fire. While working as an electric meter technician for the city of Austin, his equipment overloaded and exploded. The fire left 2nd and 3rd degree burns on his hands, arms and face and nearly cost him some of his fingers.
Head coaching record
High school
College
Notes
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodge, Todd
1963 births
Living people
American football quarterbacks
North Texas Mean Green football coaches
Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches
Texas Longhorns football players
High school football coaches in Texas
Players of American football from Port Arthur, Texas