Connally Selects Mike Rabe as AD
 By SuperCentex.com Correspondent Ricky "Remo" Williams
 January 18, 2010

Mike Rabe, now the former Athletic Director and head football coach at 1A Ganado has been hired as Waco Connally's head football coach and Athletic Director, the school board announced Monday night.

Now 33 years old, in high school Rabe was 1A All-State selection where he played under head coach Mickey Finley. For his outstanding efforts as a player, he received a football scholarship to Tarleton State, but later transferred to and graduated from Sam Houston State University.

After graduating, Rabe coached for Huntsville and then joined Finley's staff in Arlington before serving as Cleburne's offensive coordinator.

Rabe who was in Ganado for the past four years struggled in his first two seasons at Ganado. The school was in the 2A classification in 2006 and 2007 and the Indians football team only posted four wins in those two years before dropping to 1A in 2008.

However, Rabe is credited with rebuilding the Ganado program as his 2008 and 2009 teams both made it to the Texas 1A Semi-Finals both years. In 2009, Ganado was eliminated by eventual state champion Cayuga.

At Ganado, Rabe's success was not only limited to football. During his term as Athletic Director, Ganado's volleyball, softball and girls basketball teams also advanced to the 2009 playoffs, while the baseball team reached the quarterfinals last year.

Rabe should be a welcomed addition to the Connally football program that has posted a 5-14 record over the past 2 seasons. He takes the Connally program from interim AD Steve Hoffman who took over when Kevin Johnson resigned for family reasons just before the 2009 football season began.

Connally officials hope that Rabe can rebuild the Connally program, just as he did in Ganado.

Claiming to be looking for a new challenge, Rabe has said he is excited about the opportunity Connally presents and is confident the program he plans to install will work well.