Don Carthel - Football Coach - Stephen F. Austin

Don Carthel

Title:
Special Teams Analyst
Email:
doncarthel@yahoo.com

Don Carthel joined his son Colby's staff at SFA for the 2019 season and is now entering his fifth season with the Lumberjacks in 2022, serving as a director of high school relations. Carthel brings a wealth of coaching experience to the SFA staff, having coached football at the high school or college level for more than 40 years.

From 2015-2018, Carthel enjoyed a spot on son Colby Carthel's staff at Texas A&M-Commerce, where the father-son duo led the Lions to a remarkable 43-10 record from 2015-18. The 2017 season saw the Lions post a 14-1 overall record and claim the 2017 NCAA Division II Football National Championship title.

Carthel’s most recent success as a head coach came at conference rival West Texas A&M. WT hired Carthel as head coach in 2005. In his first year, he guided the school to its first Lone Star Conference Championship in 19 years. He was the 2007 AFCA Region Four Coach of the Year and took the Buffs to the postseason in all eight of his seasons as head coach, including the NCAA Division II National Semifinal in 2012. He compiled a 79-22 record at WT with a 60-11 LSC record. He has an overall record of 124-69-1 as a collegiate head coach.

Carthel graduated from Eastern New Mexico with a bachelor's degree in physical education and a minor in mathematics in 1974, then went on to get his master's in physical education in 1975. He played center for the Greyhounds from 1970-73, helping ENMU to a No. 17 NAIA ranking his senior season. In addition to his efforts on the gridiron, Carthel also threw discus for ENMU's 1974 national champion squad.

In 1975, Carthel began his coaching career at Floydada High School, serving as the defensive coordinator under legendary Hall of Fame coach L.G. Wilson. He helped lead Floydada to the district championship in both 1975 and 1976.

In 1977, Carthel moved up to the collegiate ranks, beginning at NCAA Division-III Dubuque University (Iowa). He was assistant head coach/defensive coordinator for the Spartans from 1977-79 and helped turn around a program that had won just three games in the previous four years combined. Carthel helped lead Dubuque to back-to-back Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) championships in 1978 and 1979, as well as the NCAA playoffs. During 1979, DU was undefeated and ranked No. 3 in the country.

Carthel returned to the high school ranks in 1980, serving as defensive coordinator at Fort Worth's Boswell High School.

One season later, at the age of 28, Carthel became the youngest head coach in the country when he took over at Lubbock Christian College (now Lubbock Christian University), a position he held from 1981-82.

Carthel then moved on to become an assistant coach at the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) from 1983-84 before returning to his alma mater to serve as head coach from 1985-91.

While head coach at ENMU, Carthel helped the Greyhounds make the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, as they became one of the top programs in the LSC. In 1985, during Carthel's first year at the helm, the Greyhounds faced powerhouse Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville) in the season finale for a share of the LSC title. Despite narrowly losing that game, 21-17, the Greyhounds surged to the top of the LSC, claiming the conference crown in 1991 and becoming the first team outside of Texas to win the LSC championship in the conference's 59 years of football.

Carthel compiled a 44-28-1 (.610) ledger in his seven years at ENMU, winning seven or more games in five of his seven seasons, including opening the 1987 season with a 9-0 record and tying the school record for victories in a season. In five of Carthel's seven years, the Greyhounds were ranked in the Division II Top 20 Poll. In 2001, Carthel was honored with the induction into the ENMU Hall of Fame.

In January, 1992, Carthel resigned from coaching to return to Friona, where he farmed, raised his family and served on the Friona school board for nine years. However, Carthel could not stay away from coaching and became a volunteer coach for Abilene Christian.

During that time, his son, Colby, was a standout linebacker at Angelo State University, leading the Rams to the LSC South title in 1999. The younger Carthel would join the ACU staff in 2000 as the recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach. In Abilene, father and son enjoyed their first coaching stint on the same sideline, a scenario that would repeat itself in 2006 when Colby joined the WTAMU football staff as the Buffs' defensive coordinator.

The elder Carthel coached at ACU until 2004, when he was named the head coach and general manager of the Amarillo Dusters in their inaugural season in the Intense Football League. Amarillo posted a 15-3 record under Carthel and won the IFL Championship that year. The Dusters joined AFL2 in April of 2005 and had a 2-1 record when Carthel resigned to take the reins at West Texas A&M.

Carthel received honors from the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame after the Buffs' sensational 2005 season. In addition, Carthel has garnered the Coach of the Year award from the IFL, as well as being named to the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 for leading the Dusters to the IFL crown. That honor accompanies his 1991 Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame Honor for leading the ENMU football program to the LSC Championship.