The Southeast Texas Coaches Association will be inducting four men into their Hall of Fame in January.
Delbert Spell, Tom Woolley, Scott Carter and Gene McKinley will be honored at the Annual SETCA Banquet on January 25 at the MCM Elegante Hotel beginning at noon.
Delbert Spell
Born in 1951, Spell has lived his entire life in Nederland, Texas. Lettered in 3 sports, and graduated in 1969. Met his beautiful wife, Sharlyn, during their senior year at NHS. They were married in 1970 and had three children. Spell attended Lamar Tech, and graduated in May of 1973.
“I was hired by Coach Neal Morgan in the fall of 1973. I coached 9 years at C O Wilson Jr. High. I was elevated to the varsity staff in 1982 by then AD and Head Coach Ben Hurt,” he said. “In 1984, fellow Nederland graduate of the class of ‘69, Steve DeRouen took over as Head Coach and AD. In 1985, Coach DeRouen elevated me to position of Defensive Coordinator, where I served for 6 years. Coach DeRouen resigned in the spring of 1990. Bobby August took over as head coach/AD from 1990-1992. He kept me on as secondary coach because my youngest son was entering high school and was a very good QB. In 1993, things took a turn for the better. Coach Larry Neumann was hired as Head coach and AD. Steve DeRouen returned as Offensive Coordinator, and put in a good word for me. Coach Neumann named me as his Defensive Coordinator, where I served for over 20 years. Larry and I became great friends, and visit frequently at church. I finished my career as defensive coordinator for Coach Monte Barrow for 1 year, before retiring in 2018.”
Spell was able to coach both of his boys and two grandsons. And he also coached with his son Bryan. The Spells have 11 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.
Tom Woolley
A 33 year career, Tom Woolley’s girls basketball and softball teams were always a problem for their opponents.
He coached varsity girls’ basketball 14 years at Bridge City, 1986 to 1999, with a 277-171 record. They were in the playoffs, eleven years in a row (1989-1999) and were district champs 4 years in a row (1993-1996).
He also coached varsity softball at Bridge City for 7 years, 1993-1999, with a 123-63-1 record. They were in the playoffs all 7 years, and district champs 1993-1996. He also led the boys and girls golf teams to Regionals in 2000.
He then went to Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School, coaching girls basketball for two seasons, finishing as a runner-up in 2000. And he coached softball for five years, winning district twice and making the playoffs three years. Overall record in varsity girls’ basketball was 309-204. Overall record in varsity softball 210-110-4.
Woolley finished his teaching career in Vinton and is proud to say that his entire 33 year career included working with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Today, he continues to teach a weekly Coaches Outreach Bible Study for Little Cypress-Mauriceville coaches.
Woolley has been married to wife, Sharon, for 51 years and have 3 children, Toy, Rusty, Tim and they are blessed with 11 grandchildren.
Scott Carter
Scott Carter retired from Port Neches-Groves High School where he has been the head baseball coach for the past 12 seasons and coached the first baseball state championship team in school history in 2017.
He has been a coach for 37 years and has been a head coach for 34 years. He has spent the last 31 years in Texas and has 643 wins as head coach. Three of the last four schools he coached at played in the state tournament and the one that missed made it to the regional finals. His teams have been in the playoffs 27 times with 16 of those as district champions. They have competed in the regional quarter finals 10 times; the regional finals 5 times, a state semifinalist in 2012 and he has 3 state championships to his credit in 1992, 1993 and 2017. Coach Carter has been named coach of the year at the district, parish/county and state level. He has also been honored as the head coach at the Houston Area Baseball Coaches Association all star game in 2005 and assistant coach in 2008 and again in 2018. He was also selected as a Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association all-star coach in 2009. He has had the honor of being chosen 5A Regional Director for the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association in 2022. He has seen more than 50 of his former players move on to play college baseball and 11 players have been taken in the Major League Baseball Draft.
He and his wife, Bridget, live in Port Neches. In retirement, he and his wife are enjoying spending time with their daughters, Candyce and Chelsea, while taking advantage of time off and spending quality time with his grandchildren Reagan and Carson Milian.
Gene “Trapper” McKinley
Gene “Trapper” McKinley talks about becoming a trainer. “My interest in athletic training started early when I was a student trainer at Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School working under Mike Gray. When I graduated from LCM in 1977. I entered the Athletic Training Program at Lamar University, working under Paul Zeek. Graduating with my Bachelor of Science from Lamar in 1981. I also received my License and National Certification as an Athletic Trainer.”
“I took my first job as Head Athletic Trainer at Texas Wesleyan College where I worked for 3 years. I left the college setting and moved into secondary school in August 1985. I stayed at Stephenville High School for 2 years but ultimately decided to leave Athletic Training for a couple of years. I returned closer to home and worked as the Athletic Trainer and Teacher at Lumberton High School from August 1989 to May 1997. I left Lumberton to work as an Assistant Athletic Trainer with Lee Peppers at Vidor High School from 1997-1998. I left after that year to go back to Lumberton High School as a Head Athletic Trainer for the next two years. I left Lumberton to go to Bridge city High school as the Athletic Trainer in June of 2000 until I retired in June of 2015.”
On October 3rd, 1998, Gene met his beautiful future wife, Cindy Dixon and they were married on March 18, 2000. McKinley says, “My wife supported and loved me as I finished my TRS career at Bridge City High School in 2015 where I spent 15 years as the Head Athletic Trainer.” Unfortunately, after 24 years of marriage, Cindy passed away on Feb. 15, 2024. They raised two sons, Austin (31) and Aarohn Dixon (28) and now have two wonderful grandchildren Axel (9) and Stella Dixon (6).
-Gary Stelly, KOGT-
Social Media