Todd Dodge

Todd Russell Dodge (born July 21, 1963) is an American football coach and former player, and current head coach at Lovejoy High School in Lucas, Texas.

After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin where he played quarterback for the Longhorns, Dodge went into coaching, primarily at the high school level.

At Southlake Carroll he was head coach of four 5A state championship teams in a seven-year span.

He moved on to the college level as head coach of the University of North Texas football team, but he was released after acquiring a 6–37 record.

As a senior in 1980, Dodge set the record for most passing yards in a season and became the first quarterback in Texas high school football history to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a season (3,135 yards).

That same season, he led Jefferson High to the 1980 Class 4A state championship game against Permian High School of Odessa, Texas.

He also set Texas high school records for most career completions (382) and most completions in a season (221); while finishing his career with the second most career passing yards behind Gary Kubiak.

Dodge went on to play quarterback at the University of Texas at Austin under coach Fred Akers.

From 1982 to 1983, Dodge was a backup quarterback, though he did get his first start as a freshman in the 1982 Sun Bowl when Robert Brewer broke his hand 5 days before the game.

In that game the #8 Longhorns were upset by North Carolina 26–10, in the snow, with Dodge going 6-22 for just 50 yards.

In 1983, Dodge was named the starter for the opening game, but a shoulder injury in the final preseason scrimmage on Sep 9, sidelined him for a month and he didn't reclaim the starting role until early November.

In late October he twice came in off the bench to replace starter Rob Moerschell and rally the Longhorns to wins.

He came in late to throw the go-ahead touchdown pass in the 15–12 win over SMU, and early the following week to lead the Longhorns to a 20–3 win over Texas Tech.

The next week he got his first start of the season in a 9-3 lackluster win over Houston.

But after struggling in the TCU game the next week and being replaced by Moerschell, he didn't play the remainder of the year.

Despite the quarterback troubles that resulted in rotating starters, the Longhorns went undefeated during the regular season and, but for a disappointing loss to Georgia in the Cotton Bowl, would have won the national championship.

The Longhorns entered the 1984 season ranked #4 with Dodge again as the starter.

The team started with back-to-back wins over ranked opponents, #11 Auburn and #4 Penn State.

Texas rose to a #1 ranking, which it lost after a controversial 15–15 tie with #3 Oklahoma, but went on to win 3 more games, including a win over #14 SMU to start the season 6–0–1.

But the title run was ended during a 29–15 loss to Houston in which Dodge threw 0 completions in his first 13 passes (but 4 of his 5 record interceptions) and was benched for Bret Stafford.

Dodge led the team to a win over #12 TCU the next week, but lost again to Baylor in the following game—while setting school records for single season passing yards and completions.

The season finished with two more losses, to Texas A&M when Dodge was benched for Stafford, and to Iowa in the 1984 Freedom Bowl when the Longhorns gave up 55 points, the most since 1904.

Dodge and Stafford started the 1985 season in the middle of a heated quarterback battle, which Stafford won.

After splitting time in the first three games, Dodge got a chance to retake the quarterback position when Stafford was pulled six plays into the Oklahoma game, but Dodge threw 2 interceptions and could only muster 53 yards allowing Stafford to retain the starting role the next week against Arkansas.

Dodge would not see significant playing time again until the final game of the regular season when he came off the bench versus Texas A&M to score the Longhorns only touchdown that day.

Dodge finished with a career record of 9-5-1 and several passing records.

He still ranks ninth on the UT all-time passing list with 2,791 yards and stands ninth in TD passes with 18.

His 359 passing yards in Texas' 44–16 win over Rice in 1985 stood as the Longhorn single-game record for 13 years before James Brown broke it with a 397-yard passing day against Texas Tech in 1997.

Dodge's passing effort currently ranks fourth on the UT single-game chart, behind Major Applewhite, Colt McCoy, and Brown.

His 96-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Pitts in the 1985 Rice game is still tied for the second longest in school history.

Italic means active

I was very blessed to know when I was 17 years old that I wanted to go into coaching.

And that I had the opportunity to play at the University of Texas, where I don't know that you can have a better training ground to be a coach.

Soon after graduation, Dodge pursued a coaching career at the high school level.

His first stop was at Rockwall in 1987, where he coached the quarterbacks and wide receivers.

That year, the team made an appearance at the 4A state championship game against West Orange–Stark.

Dodge then became offensive coordinator at McKinney High School under head coach Ron Poe.

By 1991, Poe yielded to Dodge's persuasion and agreed to try the spread offense.

After coaching the quarterbacks at the University of Pittsburgh for the 2011 season, he returned to high school coaching in Marble Falls and Austin Westlake.

Dodge played quarterback at Thomas Jefferson High School in Port Arthur, Texas, under coach Ronnie Thompson where he set several state records.