Phil Danaher (American football)

Philip C. Danaher (born November 23, 1948 in Saint Joseph, Missouri) is an American football coach. He is the current head coach at Calallen High School in Corpus Christi, Texas. Danaher is one of only two Texas high school football coaches to reach 400 career wins.

Danaher was born in Missouri but shortly afterwards his family moved to south Texas. He played high school football at Harlingen High School, graduated in 1967 and received a football scholarship from Angelo State University. Danaher received his Bachelor of Science in physical education in August 1971. He then became assistant coach at 5A Edison High School in San Antonio.

In 1974 Danaher got his first head coaching job in Dilley, Texas, a class 2A school. During his first year, the Wolves won their first district championship in more than a decade and were named regional co-champions. Danaher left Dilley with a 25-15-2 record after four seasons for the head coaching position at Hamshire-Fannett High School, a 3A school. Danaher guided the Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns to a 43-22 record in six years, winning three district championships and advancing to the regional finals twice along the way.

Danaher's next stop was 4A Calallen High School. He basically turned around a football program that had not reached the playoffs for 28 years, by leading them to seven the state semi-finals appearances since. Beginning in 1988, Calallen had a state record 16 consecutive seasons with ten or more wins — twice as much as the previous record established by Yates High School from Houston, Texas in the 1960s.

In 2004 Danaher won his 300th high school game, making him only one of four coaches in Texas high school football history to achieve that. By 2010, Danaher ranked 2nd in Texas all-time HS wins as a coach, trailing only the legendary G. A. Moore's 426 wins. On November 3, 2016, Danaher's Calallen Wildcats defeated the Flour Bluff Hornets 31-7 in the District 30-5A InterZone Championship game, giving Danaher his 427th win, making him the winningest coach in Texas High School football history.

Personal
Danaher's son, Wes, played running back at Calallen from 1992–95 and rushed for 8,855 yards, which trailed at the time only Ken Hall. As of 2018, he ranks 6th all-time for most rushing yards in a high school career. His other son, Cody, played quarterback at Calallen and went on to play at Texas 1993-96, where he backed up Shea Morenz and James Brown.