LIVE OAK, Texas – The Judson Independent School District ventured out of the family to find Judson High School’s next head football coach.
In a social media post Wednesday morning, the district announced the hire of Vernon Hughes to lead the Rockets’ football program and serve as the school’s athletic coordinator.
Hughes arrives at Judson after one season in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex as the head football coach at Mesquite ISD’s Horn High School.
“Coach (Vernon) Hughes brings a championship mindset to Judson, with a proven ability to build programs that compete at a high level while developing young men of character,” the district’s statement read, in part.
According to a May 2025 social media post announcing his previous hire in Mesquite, Hughes spent 2023 and 2024 as the former head coach at Weiss High School in Pflugerville ISD.
In those two seasons, Hughes went 17-5 in Pflugerville, including a District 12-6A title in 2023. Hughes went 2-8 in his lone season at Mesquite Horn, a program that is now searching for its fourth different head football coach since 2019.
In addition to a 2023 district title, Hughes was also handpicked as one of Dave Campbell Texas Football magazine’s “40 Under 40,” a list of the top emerging head football coaches in the state.
Hughes takes over for Mark Soto, who stepped away in January after a 17-28 record and three playoff berths in four seasons.
Soto’s coaching tenure with the Rockets was a true homecoming. He was a part of legendary coach D.W. Rutledge’s state title-winning teams in 1988 and 1990.
The Rockets went 4-7 last season, but they now enter new terrain after the latest University Interscholastic League (UIL)’s realignment moved Judson High School from District 29-6A to the new District 27-6A.
Judson High School now shares a football district with fellow Judson ISD rival Veterans Memorial, New Braunfels Canyon, Clemens, East Central, Pieper, San Marcos and Steele.
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Great Job Nate Kotisso & the Team @ KSAT San Antonio for sharing this story.
