Photograph: At left is David Aymond. At right is former Eunice High head football coach Paul Trosclair who played for Aymond at Opelousas High and who coached with Aymond at Abbeville High. (Submitted Photograph.)
By: Matt Malatesta
North Shore High School has become a factory that churns out wins and Division I players like the local industrial plants churn out oil and petrochemicals.
It wasn’t always that way, however. Before 1994, the Mustangs hadn’t been to the Texas High School Football Playoffs since opening in 1962. North Shore was off the grid.
The visionary Galena Park !SD Athletic Director with high expectations – Ed Warken – hired David Aymond, who was lured to Texas from Louisiana by legendary coach Neal Quillin a decade before. Enter Coach Aymond – the Kingfish in 1994. The Opelousas, Louisiana-native came from poverty to build one of the most recognized high school football brands in the country, one process at a time. Think Al Pacino in A11y Given Sunday·· unpolished with that gravelly voice with a twinge of cajun mixed in — Aymond was the voice of a program.
During the playoffs in 1996, Aymond met and married Liz Fleming eight months later, unifying and stabilizing a family of nine.
He tirelessly instilled his winning process that was so detail-oriented and focused on accountability that it was more Fortune 500 CEO than high school coach. He built a culture… more of an infrastructure that set high expectations over decades.
Judging any good leader, however, it’s about the numbers. And the numbers don’t lie.
After never being to the playoffs, Aymond led the Mustangs to the postseason for the next 20 years, starting in Year One. They haven’t missed a playoff since.
During his 20-year tenure, North Shore won 206 games: set a State record of 78 consecutive regular season wins, won 13 district titles, went undefeated eight times and won a Class 5A DI State Title (2003).
Possibly, the most important number is 187. Aymond was committed to promoting his athletes and 187 of his players signed college scholarships – that’s over nine student-athletes a year.
He has been recognized by peers for decades. Aymond was a two-time TD Club of Houston Coach of the Year, a I 0-time District Coach of the Year, a two-time US Army All-American Bowl coach and a Greater Houston Football Coaches Association Hall of Honor Inductee. Aymond also served as a director for the GHFCA and THSCA.
Aymond was about people and building relationships. One of his best traits was that ofa mentor. Pat Alvarado
(No11hbrook), Mike Coker (Galena Park), Craig Chessher (Stony Point), Jeff Ellison (Odessa Permian), Todd Rankin (Stratford), Brian Ford (Summer Creek), Shaun Wynn (Sam Rayburn) and Je,yl Brixey (Comache) all became head coaches off of Aymond’s staff over the years.
The program he was instrumental in building has stood the test of time as his long-time assistant Jon Kay has taken North Shore to new heights. Aymond’s fingerprints and voice can still be heard throughout the halls of the #Eastside_.
