Arp ISD athletic director Dale Irwin is excited about five gentlemen joining the Tiger family this summer.
All of them bring a unique wealth of knowledge and experience to help Arp High School student-athletes in football, volleyball, basketball, baseball, and track raise their level of play on the field and in the classroom.
Matt Langley - Offensive Coordinator (Football), Head boys & girls track coach
With 18 years in the coaching ranks, Coach Langley comes to Arp after a two-year stint in the Brazos as Caldwell's head football coach and athletics director.
He will also teach high school forensics.
A native East Texan, Langley is a 1998 graduate of Palestine High School where he was an All-District quarterback before playing one year of college football at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. He went on to graduate from Texas A&M with a B.S. in Kinesiology.
Langley has helped a number of programs around the state and in the Piney Woods have tremendous success both as an assistant and as head coach.
He coached at Chapel Hill, Corsicana, and Henderson under Kilgore College athletics hall of famer Phil Castles.
His resume prior to Caldwell is below:
San Antonio Brandeis - Offensive Coordinator, 2017-19. (2018 6A D2 state quarterfinalist)
Henderson - Offensive Coordinator/Asst. Head Coach, 2014-17. (2014 4A D1 state quarterfinalist)
Maud - Head Football Coach/A.D., 2012-14. (2013 District 10-1A D2 coach of the year, district champion)
Georgetown Eastview - Offensive Coordinator, 2011-12.
Corsicana - Offensive Coordinator/Asst. Head Coach, 2009-11.
Chapel Hill - Offensive Coordinator/Asst. Head Coach, 2005-09.
Elysian Fields - Quarterbacks Coach, 2003-05. (2003 2A state quarterfinalist)
Wes Schminkey - Defensive Coordinator (Football), Head boys & girls powerlifting coach, strength and conditioning coordinator
Coach Schminkey brings in two decades of coaching experience with the last 13 years being spent nearby on Highway 64.
A member of the 1996 graduating class at Chapel Hill High School, Schminkey was an honorable mention All-District tight end & outside linebacker as a Bulldog. He then attended Tyler Junior College and Stephen F. Austin University and received his degree in 2000.
Below are his coaching stops and achievements:
Henderson - Defensive Coordinator, 2018-20, Offensive Line Coach, 2017. (2017, 2018 4A D1 state quarterfinalist)
Chapel Hill - Defensive Coordinator, 2015-17, Defensive Line Coach, 2009-15, Offensive Line Coach, 2008. (2010 3A D1 state finalist, 2011 3A D1 state champion, 2013 3A D1 state quarterfinalist)
Big Sandy - Defensive Coordinator, 2007.
Daingerfield - Defensive Line Coach, 2006.
Bullard - Defensive Line Coach, 2002-2004.
Chapel Hill - Freshman asst. coach, 2000-2002.
Dakota Alexander - Head Baseball Coach, Secondary & Running Backs Coach (Football)
Coach Alexander joins Tiger Nation from just up the road in Henderson where he was the Lions skipper the last two years.
He will also teach high school math.
Now with nine years of coaching experience under his belt, Alexander is 2008 graduate of Elysian Fields High School where he was an All-District baseball player. He then attended Sam Houston State University, earning his degree in 2012.
His resume is outlined below:
Henderson - Head Baseball Coach, 2019-21, Asst. Baseball Coach, 2018-19, Secondary Coach (Football), 2018-21. (2018 4A D1 state quarterfinalist)
Joaquin - Head Baseball Coach, Secondary Coach (Football), 2017-18.
Henderson - Secondary Coach (Football), Asst. Baseball Coach, 2014-17.
Huntsville - Secondary Coach (Football), Asst. Baseball Coach, 2012-14.
Barry Woodruff - Asst. Volleyball & Track Coach
A decorated East Texas coach for 32 years, Woodruff is coming out of retirement to become an Arp Tiger again. He will also coordinate the volleyball program as a whole.
"Had the bug to keep coaching for a while," said Woodruff.
He hung it up in 2019 after 278 volleyball victories as a head coach, and after guiding the Union Grove girls track team to the 2017 2A state championship.
Needless to say, he has a lengthy resume, having also served in the junior high ranks:
Union Grove - Head Volleyball Coach, 2009-19, Head Girls Track Coach, 2002-19, Head Girls Basketball Coach 2008-10, asst. volleyball coach, 2002-09, asst. girls basketball coach, 2002-07.
Arp - Head Track Coach, 1997-2002, Head Girls Basketball Coach, 1998-2000.
Jacksonville - Head Volleyball Coach & asst. track coach, 1996-97.
Union Grove - Head Volleyball Coach 1990-96, Head Boys Basketball Coach, 1987-92, Head Track Coach 1989-96
Woodruff earned a B.S. in Education from Stephen F. Austin in 1985, and went on to get his Masters in 1987.
He graduated from Northbrook High School in the Houston area in 1981.
Henry Brown - Asst. Football & Boys Basketball Coach
Coach Brown is returning to his alma mater after coaching at Big Sandy the last two years.
He will also teach junior high and high school social studies, and serve as an aide to high school students.
A proud Arp Tiger grad, he played both football and basketball before graduating in 1969. He then attended Tyler Junior College, and the University of Houston receiving his B.A. in Journalism in 1973.
While Brown has worked in a technical field since then, he has also coached summer league basketball since 2002.
At Big Sandy, he was the junior high head girls basketball coach in 2019-20, as well as assistant high school and junior high volleyball coach, and assistant softball coach.
In 2020-21, he was a high school assistant girls basketball coach, junior high volleyball assistant coach, and junior high girls track coach.