Offensive coordinator Daniel Johnson was approved as the next head football coach of the Princeton Panthers during a school board meeting on Monday, May 18. Courtesy photo
By David Wolman
The Princeton ISD Board of Education approved the hiring of Daniel Johnson as the next head football coach during a school board meeting that was held on Monday, May 18.
Johnson takes over for Ervin Chandler, who will move into the role of assistant athletics director for Princeton ISD. Chandler succeeds Meagan Wilson, who has accepted a job with Plano ISD. Wilson’s last day with Princeton ISD is Friday.
Johnson, a native of Ardmore, Oklahoma, and former quarterback for Plainview High School, also in Ardmore, had served as the offensive coordinator for Princeton for the last three seasons.
The Panthers averaged 19.1 points per game during Johnson’s first season on the job during the 2023 season but Princeton improved that per-game average to 32.4 during each of his last two seasons coaching the offense.
The 2025 season was Princeton’s best overall in a decade as the Panthers finished 6-4 for their first season with a winning record since they went 7-4 in 2015.
“I’m extremely excited for this opportunity,” Johnson said. “I felt that coach Chandler laid a good foundation. Now, it’s time to stand up the walls and move it forward. Coach Chandler did a good job of bringing in a good staff and developed the players well. We’ve just got to keep moving forward.”
Johnson has 17 years of football coaching experience and was the head coach at Teague, Nueces Canyon and Ben Bolt. He got out of coaching football six years ago so that he can coach his two daughters in softball and volleyball.
However, Johnson always insisted that he wanted to get back into coaching football once his daughters graduated high school. Longtime Princeton ISD athletic director Stacey Dillard, who is set to retire at the end of the school year, gave Johnson that chance.
“I’m a big family man,” Johnson said. “I always want to coach my daughters. I got to coach kids in football, volleyball and softball, and I never missed a game. My oldest daughter holds the national record for most 3-pointers made in a season. When I was done coaching them, I knew Coach Dillard, and I told him that I wanted to be a head coach again.”
Joel Scott will take over as offensive coordinator. Johnson knows Scott dating back to when they coached at Teague.
“He brings a lot of knowledge,” Johnson said. “He knows the system and how to attack things.”
Defensive coordinator Alex Guerra has been added the role of associate head coach to his job title.
“It’s the first time since I’ve been here that we would have had the same defensive coordinator of two years in a row,” Johnson said. “I think that we’ll be a lot better on the side of the ball. Special teams will also be important. For me being an offensive coordinator, we’ll still continue to attack on that side of the ball. At the end of the day, we want to be playing competitive football and playing complimentary football and getting better every day.”
As for Chandler, this will be his second time serving in an administrative role. Prior to Princeton, Chandler was the head football coach and athletic director at Blooming Grove.
He said that his focus is to bring in good men and women to help lead the student-athletes in their continued growth as athletes and people.
After working for Dillard for the last five years, he is excited to work with new Princeton iSD athletics director Dr. Chivonne Kiser. Kiser was hired as the school district’s new athletic director in February and her first day on the job was March 10. She previously served as assistant athletics director for Denton ISD.
“It’s been going good,” Chandler said. “I learned a lot from Coach Dillard and my short time with Dr. Kiser. They have the same vision that I do. We want to have people come in here and lead people on the football field and in other sports. It’s been a great transition.”
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