His grandmother’s house was a treasure chest of photographs of his father and uncles, the family’s history outlined on the wall in Temple Wildcats’ uniforms. As a young boy, Chad President would pepper his father with questions about what life was like back then. One photo of his uncle Daina making a tackle in football caught his eye.

“What’s with the pants?” Chad asked.

They were solid royal blue on the front and white on the back. But from the side, like in this picture, they were split 50/50, a harsh divide. That’s a Temple thing, his father told him. Nobody else has those pants. That was all that needed to be said. 

It’s almost like the uniform had to match the uniqueness of the high school’s importance to Temple, Texas, a town now over 93,000 people with one school. The President family was immersed in every quirk and tradition. Chad’s grandfather suited up for legendary football coach Bob McQueen. His uncle won a state championship in 1992 and his father also played. Under those Wildcat Stadium lights, the only show in that big town, they achieved stardom most high schoolers could only dream of reaching.

But Chad became the most famous of them all.

As a senior quarterback in 2014, he piloted the program to a state championship game and earned disctrict offensive player of the year honors with over 3,000 total yards and 29 touchdowns. Ten years later, President returned to Temple as the offensive coordinator. At 28 years old this offseason, he became the first African-American head coach in the history of Temple High School.

President doesn’t concern himself with outside opinions - a character trait required for being a Division I recruit in high school and then actually becoming a Division I athlete at the University of Tulsa. The only social media he has is an X (formerly Twitter) account because it’s basically a requirement in his profession. He blocks out the noise, but knows it's still there. Like those assumptions that he was handed the job even though he went through two rounds of interviews with two different committees and was among 50 some-odd candidates. Or those questioning if he’s really ready to lead this program this soon. It’s one thing to be the face of the team for a season at quarterback. It's something else entirely to be the face of the team for an era as its coach.

“I think it’s a statement that no matter what age you are, if you’re prepared and you have passion and you’re dedicated to your profession, you can walk in any door no matter what your resume is and interview your butt off and have a chance at landing a big job,” President said.

Besides, President grew up faster than most. Being the oldest sibling in your family will do that. Graduating high school a semester early to enroll at Tulsa will do that. Finding out you’ll have a daughter at 18 years old, two months after you left for college, will do that. 

Family inspired his dream at 12 years old to one day become Temple's head coach. Family also gave him the motivation to achieve his lifelong dream at 28. His daughter’s nine years old now, a fourth grader who loves dancing, playing soccer and running track. She was born and raised in Temple just like her father, except dad missed more of those earlier years than he would’ve liked, sacrificing time to chase the college degree that would provide for her long term.

“The best thing about getting this job and being back home is there’s no excuse for me to miss anything of my daughter’s anymore,” President said.

Only a decade passed from his final high school game to being named head coach, but it was still a long road for President to get here. Long enough to where the current Temple High Schoolers only knew his name, not who he was. Long enough so athletic director Steve Prentice - the assistant AD when President played for Temple - understood why President got emotional when he offered him the job.

His Tulsa career, hyped because of his four-star status, was marred by injuries, including a season-ending thigh injury in Week One of the 2016 season and a torn ACL in the season finale of 2017. But those injuries provided the first glimpses into his future career as a coach. Most in Temple remember President leading the team to the state championship game as a senior, but then-Temple head coach Mike Spradlin remembers the junior year he sat out with injury just as vividly.

“He didn’t just stand on the sidelines,” Spradlin said. “He wasn’t just a cheerleader. He got real involved in the game plans and was very active on the sidelines, coaching up his teammates.”

For all the player-coaching he did through injuries at Temple and Tulsa, however, there were still many hours of rehab, sitting alone in a training room, thinking about what he wanted in life.

“Once I graduated college, my sole mission was to get back to Temple and coach here,” President said.

With the diploma in hand and the clock starting on his professional coaching career, the now-former quarterback still had to make a quick decision. Both his former coaches, Spradlin from Temple and Philip Montgomery at Tulsa, wanted him on their staff. He could either be a high school assistant, or a collegiate graduate assistant.

“He was one of the hardest workers we ever had and also one of the smartest guys,” said Montgomery, now the offensive coordinator at Virginia Tech. “Heck, I wanted to keep him on my staff (at Tulsa) when he finished playing, and then Spradlin stole him and took him to Rockwall. Making GA pay and making regular pay was a little different.”

Spradlin coaxed President to Rockwall-Heath High School, where President helped mentor current TCU quarterback Josh Hoover. Then, he served as Hewitt-Midway’s offensive coordinator for the 2023 season before returning home as Temple’s offensive coordinator in 2024. President’s offenses have posted over 400 yards per game each of the last three years at three different schools. 

Last year, he helped resurrect Temple’s program from a 1-9 finish in 2023 to a 7-4 mark. He takes over for Scott Stewart, who resigned after nine seasons as Temple’s head coach. Stewart was the team’s defensive coordinator in 2014, President’s senior year, before inherting head coaching duties from Spradlin.

The majority of Temple’s coaching staff are players from the 2014 state finalist team. Coach Cole Martin was President’s backup QB and kicked the game-winning field goal against Fort Bend Ridge Point in the third round of the playoffs. Coach Clint Cole was a former defensive back who’s on staff, as is former defensive lineman Gilberto Hernandez, who played defensive line.

It’s up to the old guard to help the next generation build on what they accomplished.

“Temple kids are special,” President said. “They’re really buying in right now to new expectations and a new culture.”