MUSTANG STAFF
Houston High School is positioned in the heart of Germantown, Tn, a part of the greater Memphis area and is the high school of the Germantown Municipal School District. The Houston Mustangs Football team competes at the highest level in the TSSAA Class 6A.
Head Coach
Brandon Usery
Offensive Coordinator & O-Line Coach
Coach Brandon Usery is returning for his third season at Houston High School as the Offensive Line Coach and Offensive Coordinator. Coach Usery graduated from Houston High School in 2004 where he was a varsity letterman in football, basketball, and track. Coach Usery then continued his football career at Lambuth University and then the University of North Alabama. Coach Usery previously coached at Brighton High School and Munford High School respectively and is entering his sixth season as a Varsity Football Coach.
Ronnie Thompson
Passing Game Coordinator
Coach Ronnie Thompson is entering his 4th year as Houston High School Passing Game Coordinator. He provides 14 years of coaching experience where at previous stops served as offensive coordinator. He is a graduate from GHS and the University of Mississippi in 2003. He is married to his wife Lyndi. They have three kids together, son Cooper and twin daughters Gray and Sawyer.
Brian Field
Offensive Assistant
Coach Field enters into his 12th season with the Mustangs coaching He was a graduate of Memphis State University where he was a pitcher on their baseball team during the 1978 to 1981 seasons. Field has also coached at Germantown High school and Briar Crest High School before joining the Mustangs. He is married to his wife Cherlyn, they have two sons, Brett and Cole, who are both Houston HS graduates and now attend the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
James Thomas
Defensive Coordinator
This is Coach Thomas’s 12th year with the Houston football program. He is a graduate of Houston High School and was Captain of the 1999 State Semi- finalist team that went 11-3. He went on to play Offensive line in college at the University of Arkansas where he graduated in 2004. He is married to Haley Thomas who is a SPED teacher at Houston High. They have a 2 year old daughter Margot.
Robert Armbruster
Assistant Coach, Inside Linebackers
Coach Robert Armbruster is starting his third year with the Mustangs as an assistant coach in charge of the inside linebackers. He has coached on the high school level for 31 years. Coach Armbruster served as an assistant at Germantown High School for 23 years where he has coached in the State Finals four times. Serving as defensive coordinator, the Red Devils won the 2003 State Championship. He also served as an assistant and Head Coach at Bartlett High School. In 2010, he was chosen as a Head Coach for the Liberty Bowl All-Star Game. Coach Armbruster is an alumnus of Bartlett High School and the University of Memphis. He and his wife, Pam, have one son, Sean, and two daughters, Michelle and Rachel.
Brandon McDonald
Defensive Backs
Brandon McDonald was a high school standout from Collins High School in Collins, Mississippi, where the team was back to back state champions. McDonald also lettered in basketball and track. He attended Jones Junior College before transferring to the University of Memphis. Playing both receiver and defensive back gave him a unique perspective before he was tapped to focus just on the defensive side of the ball. McDonald also played special teams as a return specialist. In the 2007 NFL draft, McDonald was taken in the 5th round by the Cleveland Browns. He went on to play over 8 seasons in the NFL with the Browns, Lions and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Coach McDonald played an additional 3 seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Ottawa Redblacks, Calgary Stampede and Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Malcom Riley
Assistant Coach, Defensive Line
A native of Ft Wayne, Indiana, Coach Malcolm Riley was a standout player at Snider High School and then went on to play Division 1 football at the University of Toledo. He was a 3 year starter at defensive tackle and end. Riley played a short time professionally in the arena football league for the Jacksonville Sharks and Tri City Fever. He started his coaching career as a Graduate Assistant with the football program at the University of Toledo in 2012 and is excited to start his first season with the Mustangs, working with the defensive line.
Raheem Shabazz
Strength and Conditioning Coach
Coach Shabazz is a Certified Performance Training Specialist and Certified Circuit Training specialist. He trains athletes at the highest levels of performance having worked with top professional draft picks and athletes playing in the NFL, NBA, MLB and ATP professionals. Shabazz was a high school 3 sport “All-State” standout athlete in football, basketball and track. He played football at The Ohio State University from 1999-2002 and then transferred to play 1 season at UT Chattanooga. Coach Shabazz played professionally for 6 seasons in the Arena football league for the Tennessee Riversharks. Sports Illustrated, the Commercial Appeal, Desoto Times and Tri State Defender have labeled Shabazz as “The Best Strength and Conditioning Coach in the Southeast.” Coach Shabazz is married with 4 children and works with many area programs that have won numerous honors and State championships, (Lausanne, Hamilton, 2x at East High School).
Tripp Turner, ATC, LAT
Director of Sports Medicine
Tripp is currently in his 21st year as the Head Athletic Trainer at Houston High School and is also serving in his third elected term as the West Tennessee Representative to the Executive Board of the Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ Society. In August 2016, Tripp accepted a position on the Board of Directors of the Germantown Education Foundation. In his spare time, Tripp enjoys spending time with his family, which usually means Jacob’s soccer games or watching Jacob play drums with one of several bands around town that he plays with.
Education:
● BS,Ed. Exercise & Sports Science/Athletic Training; University of Memphis
Certifications/Licensure:
● NATABOC Certified Athletic Trainer #110002129
● Tennessee Licensed Athletic Trainer #000000574
● National Provider Identifier (NPI) #1225167265
Memberships:
● National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) 30 years
● Southeast Athletic Trainers’ Association (SEATA)
● Tennessee Athletic Trainers’ Society (TATS)
Committee Appointments:
● Tennessee Sports Medicine Advisory Committee
● TATS Reimbursement Committee (past Chairman)
● Secondary Schools Athletic Training Committee (past Chairman)
● TSSAA Wrestling Weight Management Committee
Family:
● Married: 23 years to Tamara Turner, Manager in HR at FedEx
● 1 son, Jacob, a freshman at Houston High