West Creek football has hired Michael Booker Jr. as its next coach.
Booker, 49, was a star cornerback at Nebraska and first-round NFL Draft pick who played two seasons with the Tennessee Titans. He takes over for Rob Gallowitz, who stepped down to take a real estate job after leading the Coyotes to their second playoff berth in 2023.
From California, Booker was recruited to Nebraska by Tom Osborne and played for the Cornhuskers from 1993-96. He was a member of national championship teams in 1994 and 1995, and was named the Defensive MVP of the Huskers’ 62-24 win over Florida in the Fiesta Bowl, which clinched their second title. He was also named second team All-Big 12 as a senior.
The Atlanta Falcons selected Booker with the 11th pick in the 1997 NFL Draft. Booker played for the Falcons from 1997-99 and started for them in Super Bowl XXXIII, which they lost to the Denver Broncos.
Booker played for the Titans in 2000 and 2001 before retiring. He had 109 tackles and eight interceptions during his five-year professional career and appeared in 73 games, starting 11.
After his playing career, Booker moved to Texas, and opened his own training facility, I.T. Fitness, in Grand Prairie in 2012. In addition, he coached high school football for six years. His son, Michael Booker III, plays at Nebraska.
Booker will be the third new coach in the region this fall, and fourth in Montgomery County. He joins Northeast’s Deonte Weston, Northwest’s Mark Hall and Montgomery Central’s Wyatt Page.
Gallowitz went 8-13 in two seasons at West Creek, which had won just 28 games and reached the playoffs once in the first 13 years of its existence. The Coyotes earned the No. 4 seed in Region 7-6A with a dramatic, overtime victory over Kirkwood on the final night of the regular season. They will compete in Region 7-6A once again in 2024 with Clarksville, Dickson County, Kirkwood, Kenwood, Northeast, Northwest and Rossview.
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Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.