Graham hires former NFL, N.C. State linebacker Bobby Houston Sr. to guide football program
GRAHAM — Former NFL and North Carolina State linebacker Bobby Houston, Sr. has been named the new football coach at Graham High School, the school announced in a press release Tuesday afternoon.
"Graham High School is pleased to announce Bobby Houston, Sr. as the new head football coach for the Red Devils," a Graham statement read. "Coach Houston will bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the GHS football program, including extensive prior high school, collegiate and professional coaching and player experience.
"His resume includes ten years as a former professional athlete in addition to back-office management responsibility for launching the Carolina Cobras arena football team. Notably, Houston worked closely with Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and has been a player and coach on several nationally ranked football teams."
Houston, 54, replaces Dominque Burks, who coached the Red Devils for each of the past two seasons. Burks guided Graham to a 4-5 overall record and a 2-3 league mark in the fall after going 1-5, 1-3 in a COVID-altered 2021 spring season.
Houston described his coaching philosophy as, “Prepare to win; win with class and humility. Lose with grace and learn from both with high character, high energy and be highly fundamental," according to the release.
Houston was selected in the third round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. He played nine seasons in the NFL, spending six of them (1991-96) with the New York Jets, while later splitting time in Kansas City and San Diego before a final season in Minnesota (1998).
He finished his NFL playing career with 250 tackles, 14½ sacks, eight fumble recoveries, seven forced fumbles and four interceptions.
“We are ecstatic to have Coach Houston joining the Graham High School family as our head football coach," Red Devils athletics director Kyle Ward said in the release. "He brings a wealth of football experience and will be an extremely positive role model for our student-athletes."
Houston is a native of Washington, D.C. and a graduate of DeMatha Catholic High School.
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David Kehrli is a sports reporter at the Burlington Times-News and USA Today Network. You can reach him at david.kehrli@thetimesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidKehrliTN. Subscribe to the Burlington Times-News here.
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Graham High School names Bobby Houston, Sr., former NFL, N.C. State linebacker, Red Devils football coach
