Texas high school football enters the 2026 season with the usual heavyweight crowd at the top, and the first preseason rankings make one thing clear: the state is loaded again.
Duncanville and DeSoto are both in the national picture, and Texas schools continue to stack talent at a ridiculous rate. Of the top 100 players in the Class of 2027 rankings, Texas high schools account for 12. Six of the top 10 teams in the state come from the DFW metroplex, a reminder that the region still runs through the center of the conversation.
Duncanville opens at No. 1 in the state rankings after Reginald Samples guided the Panthers back to the 6A Division I title game last year. With QB Maximus The Great Denson set for a full season, the Panthers have a chance to chase another title. Duncanville also checks in at No. 11 nationally.
DeSoto comes in right behind that group after winning state title No. 3 in five years. The Eagles keep one of the state’s most dangerous offensive pieces in RB SaRod Baker, who is committed to Texas Tech, and they sit at No. 16 in the national poll.
North Crowley has already shown it can handle a brutal road. The Golden Bears won the Class 5A Division II championship last year and did it after dealing with a tough pre-district slate that included Duncanville, Galena Park North Shore and Longview.
Their season opener is a rematch of last year’s title game against Richmond Dr. Thomas E.
Randle.
North Shore remains the standard for how quickly a team can reload. The Mustangs won the Class 6A Division I title last year against Duncanville, but only eight total starters are back.
Even so, the schedule does not ease up, with South Oak Cliff, Lancaster and John Curtis Christian from Louisiana all coming early. There are new faces all over the roster, and Lee Munn steps in as head coach after serving as the team’s defensive coordinator.
At Lancaster, the Lions are trying to get back to the state final for the third time after their perfect season ended against Duncanville. A lot of that push will ride on Texas pledge Landen Williams-Callis, who is expected to carry a heavy load.
South Oak Cliff has one of the toughest early tests in the state. The Eagles lost only one game last year and open with what might be the hardest three-game stretch on the schedule: Duncanville, DeSoto and Southlake Carroll.
Back-to-back state champions, they have now posted three straight seasons with at least 14 wins. QB Ty Knutson, a Texas commit, is back to lead them.
At Westlake, changes are coming on the sideline. DeMarcus Harris takes over as head coach, and he inherits a roster loaded with standouts on both sides of the ball. The added transfer at quarterback, who sat out last season, gives the Panthers another layer.
Longview remains one of East Texas’ standard-bearers, but this year brings some real retooling at quarterback and running back. Coach Scott Surratt has seen enough to know how to handle it, though. He has 11 titles to his name.
Fort Bend Ridge Point is coming off a 14-win stretch over the past two seasons and reached the state finals for the first time last fall. WR Dillion Mitchell, one of the fastest players in the country and one of the top track and field athletes around, gives the Panthers a game-breaker.
Lubbock Cooper pulled off the rarest kind of climb, going from unranked to state champions last year. The Yellow Jackets are now 7-for-7 in state title games, and that kind of record speaks for itself.
At Aledo, QB Noah Spinks looked sharp in his first year with the Bulldogs, and WR Benny Easter Jr. remains one of the state’s top targets.
Allen is back in the mix after reaching the final for the second time in program history last year. Trey Wright is one of the state’s best QB1s, and Baylor pledge Karece Hoyt is back as well.
St. Thomas enters 2026 with a 28-game winning streak after winning a second straight TAPPS Division II title. The Saints are also loading up on talented transfers, which only makes them more dangerous.
Carthage has a new challenge in front of it as a former small-school power trying to hold up against 6A competition. Tre Williams, a transfer from Lewisville, is in at quarterback.
At Southlake Carroll, the Bobcats continue to carry the weight of a program that has dealt with a cloud of coaching improprieties, which led to former state championship coach Bill Elliott’s retirement and his teaching license being revoked. On the field, though, Todd Rodgers has two key pieces in Texas Tech pledge Julian Caldwell and top DFW transfer Hayes Hackney, who came over from Prosper Walnut Grove.
New Braunfels arrives with one of the state’s premier quarterbacks in senior Jerry Meyer III, now in his third year as a starter. The South Carolina pledge has helped keep the Panthers on steady ground under new coach Lawrence Williams, who inherits a program that has won at least nine games in each of the past four seasons.
At Highland Park, veteran coach Randy Allen and SMU pledge Buck Randall are back together after the Scots took a step back in 2025 following a 2024 run that ended in the finals.
The Panthers of St. Pius X are fresh off state title No. 6 in the past seven years in TAPPS Division 1. Their Week 1 matchup with Fort Worth All Saints could be the private-school game of the year.
Iowa Colony has put together a 24-4 run over the past two seasons, with all four losses coming against Richmond Randle. The Pioneers remain among the elite, and the question now is whether they can finally get past the Lions if the two meet again in the postseason.
Port Neches-Groves is moving up from Class 5A Division II to Division I, and that jump comes with RB Bear Tabor, a junior and three-year starter, making life easier as the program breaks in a new quarterback.
At Southlake Carroll’s new coach? No, at another program on the list, Michael Buro takes over as head coach and brings back eight of 11 starters on offense. QB Camden Hughes headlines the group after combining for more than 3,000 yards.
At A&M Consolidated, the Eagles are trying to bounce back after a noticeable drop from their three straight seasons of 11 or more wins. Kyle Coats now runs the program, and the defense returns nine of 11 starters.
Katy reached the Class 6A Division 1 semifinals, but only four starters are back.
Cibolo Steele is also dealing with major turnover after seven players from last year’s team moved on to Division I football, leaving some important jobs open.
Shadow Creek reached the state semifinals last year, but now has to replace nine starters on offense. The defense returns seven starters and could be the early anchor.
Columbus, the Class 3A Division 2 champion, brings back only six starters.
Lubbock-Cooper Liberty made a huge leap from seven wins in 2024 to 13 wins last season, though only eight total starters return.
And on the defensive line, the front gets a big punch from Oregon pledge Zane Rowe and Texas Tech pledge Khyren Haywood.
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