Legendary former Sealy football coach T.J. Mills dies

By on April 11, 2015

 

http://www.chron.com/sports/highschool/article/Legendary-Sealy-football-coach-T-J-Mills-dies-6186854.phpHere’s another one of the many heroes that have mentored more young men through the sport of football.  There are thousands of men like this across the globe in every sport, not just football.  You will be missed Coach Mills.

Mills, one of just two high school coaches in state history to win four consecutive titles, died Tuesday from a heart attack. Mills led one of the most dominant runs Texas football has ever seen. From 1993-97, he led Sealy, which is roughly 50 miles west of Houston, to four straight Class 3A state championships the first program to do so and a 63-1 record.

“The first word I think of is competitive. Oh my gosh, he was ultra-competitive,” Former Euless Trinity and Commerce head coach Steve Lineweaver said of Mills.

“I went to shake (T.J.’s) hand and I was humbled,” said Lineweaver, who recently retired after 259 career wins and four state titles. “I didn’t know if we could ever beat them. He said, ‘Coach, go enjoy it with your kids. You deserve it.’

By his second year, Mills led the program to its first winning season (9-1) in seven seasons and the most wins since 1978. Three playoff trips and two district titles followed over the next six seasons, but in 1993, Mills and Sealy broke through. They went 10-3, setting the stage for what was to come.

“T.J. was always a special coach, always a hard worker and good with the X’s and O’s, but I think the main thing about T.J. is they had those kids believing in what they did at Sealy,” said former Columbus and El Campo coach Bob Gillis, whose friendship with Mills went back to the late 1970s as young assistants. “Sometimes they weren’t the best athletes on the field playing against another team, but they played hard and believed they were going to win the game.” See more…

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