Garland Naaman Forest has selected Mark Elam as football coach according to Garland ISD athletic director Homer B. Johnson. Elam has been Rockwall ISD athletic director but his return will come quickly. Elam is expected to start Monday at Naaman Forest to replace Bill Patterson who left for Justin Northwest three weeks ago.

Elam and Johnson have worked together over the past decade as the two neighboring schools have been in the same UIL districts for parts of the last decade.

"I just had a feeling he wanted to get back into coaching," Johnson said. "He is one of the best ones around. He probably has won more games at North Mesquite than any other Mesquite coach. What I remember most about his teams is that we hardly ever beat them."

Elam, 54, had an eight-year tenure at North Mesquite as his hard-nosed defense and Wing T offense made the Stallions perennial playoff qualifiers. Under Elam in 1996, North Mesquite had more than 20,000 fill Mesquite Memorial Stadium in a No. 1 vs. No. 2-state ranked, non-district showdown with Odessa Permian. The Stallions were ranked No. 1 in the state most of the season but lost in the second round of the playoffs after an injury to standout running back Jason Coffey.

In 1998, Elam left North Mesquite to become head coach at Rockwall, where he led the Yellow Jackets to their first winning season in five years. In 2004, Elam became Rockwall ISD athletic director in 2004.

Elam's head coaching career began in 1982 at Wall. He followed that with a successful seven years at Brenham before moving to North Mesquite. He also was an assistant at Dublin, San Angelo Central and Abilene.