The Irving ISD Athletic Hall of Fame Committee is pleased to announce the Class of 2024. The inductees are:
- Brian Bosworth, MacArthur Football Player
- Jay Boulware, Nimitz Football Player
- Steve Grumbine, MacArthur Football Player
- Sam Morton, MacArthur Tennis Coach
- Wes Pyfer, Nimitz Football Coach
The 2024 Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at a banquet on Saturday, May
18, at the DFW Airport Marriott (8440 Freeport Pkwy., Irving, TX 75063). Registration is at 5:30 PM, followed by the program at 6 PM. Tickets are $30. For sponsorship and/or ticket information, please contact the Irving ISD Athletic Department at 972.600.5215.
Since its inception in 2012, the Irving ISD Hall of Fame is designed to honor those who
have contributed to athletic excellence throughout the history of Irving ISD. Read more
about this year’s honorees below.
Brian Bosworth
Brian Bosworth was born in Oklahoma City, Okla., on March 9, 1965, to parents Kathy and Foster. He attended MacArthur High School in Irving ISD, where he was a standout football player. He was moved up to varsity his sophomore football season and played defensive end, earning Sophomore of the Year honors. His junior year, coaches added tight end to his assignment, and he earned All-District First Team Defensive End and Second Team Tight End. As a senior, middle linebacker was added to his roles, and he was named First Team Tight End and First Team Linebacker. He was also voted District Defensive Player of the Year, All-Metro Linebacker and Team MVP for MacArthur his senior year.
After graduating from MacArthur High School in 1983, Bosworth continued his football career and studies at the University of Oklahoma. He red-shirted his freshman year and then played Linebacker for the Sooners the next three years, winning the National Championship against the Nittany Lions from Penn State in 1985. He was a two-time unanimous First Team All-American and the only two-time winner of the Dick Butkus Award for the nation’s Top Linebacker. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Bosworth was drafted in the first round of the 1987 supplemental draft by the Seattle Seahawks and started at linebacker for two years until injuries forced him out of the game. Bosworth then made a career in movies making over 20 movies and became a TV commentator as well. He now stars in the Fansville Dr. Pepper commercials.
He is married to Morgan Leslie and has 3 children: Hayley, Chase and Max.
Jay Boulware
Jay Boulware moved to Irving in 1986 and attended Lamar Middle School, where he played football and basketball. That year, the football team finished second in the city while the basketball team won first in the city and the district. He continued in the two sports the next year as a freshman at Nimitz High School. After being moved up to the varsity football team in the winter of his freshman year, he was a part of a playoff run to the Regional Finals. He earned All-District Left Tackle honor for the next two years, lettering three years in high school and earning a scholarship to play at the University of Texas (UT).
Boulware redshirted his first year at UT. In his second season, he lettered as an offensive lineman, being a versatile 6th man. Slated to be a starter in the 1993 season, a cardiac arrhythmia tragically ended his career. What was a crushing blow catapulted him to a new opportunity – one that he embraced and he continues to flourish in today. As one of three returning lettermen on the offensive line, Coach Pat Watson asked Boulware to join his coaching staff.
In addition to serving as the tight ends graduate assistant coach at UT, Boulware has also held coaching positions at Northern Illinois University, the University of Arizona, Stanford University, the University of Utah, Iowa State University, Auburn University, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Kentucky, where he currently services as running backs coach and special teams coordinator. Throughout his career, he has also held internships with the San Francisco 49ers, the New Orleans Saints and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As a coach, he has won a National Championship and SEC Championship in 2010 at Auburn University, where he was a tight end coach and special teams coordinator. His teams have qualified for four College Football Playoff games, and he has coached numerous All-Conference players at several schools including the all-time leading rusher at the University of Oklahoma (Samaje Perine), Joe Mixon and Rhamondre Stevenson. Boulware coached six 1,000-yard rushers in five years and the Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year (Austin Seibert), all at OU, as well as 11 All Big 12 Players. He also coached eight draft picks at OU, and every starter at OU who played for him had an opportunity to play in the NFL.
Steve Grumbine
Steve Grumbine left his mark on MacArthur High School and later Baylor University as a standout football player. At MacArthur, he was a two-time All-District Team selection and was tabbed for the All Metroplex Team his senior year. After graduating from MacArthur in 1983, he took his talents to Baylor University, where the four-year letterman was a two-time All Southwest Conference selection and team captain. He was named to the Baylor Bears 1980s All-Decade Team, and in 2016, he was inducted into the Baylor “B” Association Hall of Honor, which recognizes Baylor letterwinners and graduates whose meritorious accomplishments in public or private life following graduation have brought positive public recognition, credit and honor to the university.
Sam Morton
Sam Morton was a trailblazer in Irving ISD, making history in multiple ways. He began his career at J.O. Davis High School, where he won two state championships. He joined the staff at MacArthur High School in 1968 as part of integration, becoming the first African-American high school coach in Irving and one of the first black teachers in Irving. He coached football for two years, and in 1970, he was named head tennis coach for boys and girls at MacArthur High School, becoming the first African-American head varsity coach in Irving ISD history. Throughout his 18 years as head coach, Morton’s teams won 18-consecutive city tennis championships, numerous district and regional tennis team championships and a state championship in 1981 – the first UIL state championship in Irving ISD history.
Morton retired in 1988 after 20 years of coaching in Irving ISD. He came out of retirement in 1995 to serve as the women’s tennis coach at the University of Dallas from 1995 to 2000. Morton passed away in 2008.
He earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in math from Southern Methodist University (SMU) and a doctorate in math from Texas A&M University. In addition to his career in education, Morton served in the US Army for two years.
He was beloved by his players, students, coaches, faculty and administration – taking great interest in the lives of his players on and off the court and always stressing academics. He was a very passionate coach – serving as a mentor to many students and respected and loved by all.
Wes Pyfer
Throughout his more than two decades of service to Irving ISD – 30 total years as a coach and 35 in the teaching profession – Coach Wes Pyfer impacted the lives of hundreds of student-athletes, and continues to do so in retirement.
Pyfer served as the football defensive coordinator at Nimitz High School for 17 seasons from 1980 to 1997, winning his first district championship in 1982. His teams advanced to 15 playoff games in 17 seasons. In 1984, Pyfer was named the District 8-5A Associate Coach of the Year in 1984.
For 22 years, he taught all levels of biology at Nimitz and served on the Campus Improvement Committee and the Irving ISD Sick Leave Bank Committee.
Since retirement, Pyfer continues to serve Nimitz High School and Irving ISD in a variety of capacities. He is one of the original members of the Irving ISD Hall of Fame selection committee, and he leads the Coaches’ Outreach Bible Study for Nimitz Coaches each week during the year. Pyfer presents the “Coach Mike Farda Award” at the Nimitz Football Banquet each year and served as the Nimitz Football Booster Club President from 2021-2022.
Pyfer is a deacon, teacher, department leader and HomeGroup leader at Oak View Baptist Church and is involved in the Oak View Outreach to give “goody bags” each week to Nimitz football and basketball players during their respective seasons. In addition, he is a board member and volunteer at Crisis Ministries of Irving to help the less fortunate in our community.
The Irving ISD Athletic Hall of Fame also includes:
The 2023 Class:
- Suzie Oelschlegel, MacArthur Coach
- Chris Hall, Irving Athlete
- Terry Knouse, MacArthur Coach
- Rodrick Walker, Nimitz Athlete
The 2022 Class:
- Jim Hart, Irving Athlete
- Les Lancaster, Nimitz Athlete
- Don Reeves, Travis/MacArthur Coach
The 2020/2021 Class:
- Bruce Burns, Community Contributor
- Tom Ladusau, MacArthur Athlete and Nimitz Coach
- Tyson-Thompson: El, Irving Athlete
- Norman Watkins, Irving Athlete
The 2019 Class:
- Tony Arnold, Irving Athlete
- Joe Barnett, Coach
- Stan Cason, Stadium Announcer
- Glenn Sullivan, Irving Athlete
The 2018 Class:
- Ken Dabbs, Coach
- Barry Knott, Nimitz Athlete and Irving Coach
- Don Poe, Coach
- Mike Sartor, Coach
The 2017 Class:
- Brad Knouse, MacArthur Athlete
- Hobart Lytal, Coach
- Duane Miller, Irving Athlete
- Thomas Uhr, Coach
The 2016 Class:
- DeMarcus Faggins, Irving Athlete
- Kelvin Korver, Irving Athlete
- Ray Overton, Coach
- Morris Sloan, Coach and Irving Athlete
The 2015 Class:
- Jim Bennett, Coach
- Mike Phillips, MacArthur Athlete
- Bill Rutherford, Irving Athlete
- Kenny Walters, Irving Athlete
The 2014 Class:
- Brandel Chamblee, MacArthur Athlete
- Ruthie Lobb Davis, Irving Athlete
- Aaron De La Torre, Irving Athlete
- Margie Stipes, Community Contributor
- Randy Waldrum, MacArthur Athlete
- Murphy Webster, Coach
The 2013 Class:
- Michael Huff, Nimitz Athlete
- Kerry Cooks, Nimitz Athlete
- Joe Perryman, Coach
- Anne Uhr, Coach
- Joy and Ralph Ellis, Community Contributors
The 2012 Class:
- Akin Ayodele, MacArthur Athlete
- Cedric Colby, MacArthur Athlete
- Alan Lowry, Irving Athlete
- David Rose, Irving Athlete
- Deeanna Williams, Nimitz Athlete
- Mike Farda, Coach
- Bob Harrell, Coach and Athletic Director
- Dick Lear, Community Contributor
