South Houston High School head football coach C.L. Whittington was named the Houston Texans High School Coach of the Week for the third week of the NFL season.
 
Whittington’s Trojans are 4-1 overall and 2-0 in District 22-5A play. In their first district games, the Trojans ran past Pasadena in a 44-3 rout and  defeated La Porte in a thrilling 28-21 game on the road at Bulldog Stadium Sept. 28. It is South Houston's best start since 1975.

South Houston High School will receive a $500 grant in their coach’s name for winning the Texans Coach of the Week Award. Also, each coach will be recognized on HoustonTexans.com and NFLHS.com, and on the video board at Reliant Stadium.  Whittington will also be invited to the Texans vs. Saints game on Nov. 18 and will be recognized at the Texans High School Coach of the Year Banquet after the season.

Whittington, a former defensive back for the Houston Oilers in the mid-1970s, took over the head coaching and campus athletic coordinator position this past March when Al Campo retired. He has been at South Houston for three years as an outside linebackers and defensive line coach and has approximately 18 years of experience coaching football at the middle, high, and collegiate levels.

At the middle and high school level, he has coached in the Beaumont, Angleton, Houston, and Longview independent school districts. At the collegiate level, he was a defensive coordinator at Texas Southern University and head football coach at Prairie View A&M University.

Whittington was a defensive back for the Oilers from 1974 to 1979, playing for legendary head coach Bum Phillips. He is a native of Beaumont and graduated from Charlton-Pollard High School. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Prairie View A&M University.

Whittington said he stresses to his athletes to never give up on their goals and he will continue to be a role model to help them make good life decisions.

“When you talk about the motto of the school at South Houston ‘Simply the Best,’ we believe that – we want to be the best we can possibly be for this community,” he said. It’s meant so much to me and my family for Pasadena ISD to give me the opportunity to do what I love.”

Whittington is active in organizations such as Habitat for the Humanity, and is involved with community outreach activities for the NFL Player’s Association. He also does motivational speaking to various groups in the community to communicate his love for teaching. He constantly encourages the students to take an active role in their community.

Whittington and his wife, Winifred, have three children. All of his children, Jason, Corey, and Catherine, have a college degree. Jason graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications. He is now the assistant public relations director for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. Corey graduated from Prairie View A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. Catherine graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering.