• Port Neches-Groves head football coach Brandon Faircloth watches his team during a recent practice. Pete Churton/The Enterprise Photo: Pete Churton

 

Brandon Faircloth needed little time to think before he said yes. And when he did, he became a coach to many of the nation’s top high school football players.

Faircloth, who has coached the Port Neches-Groves football team to the playoffs in each of his two seasons at the school, will help coach Team USA in the second annual Team USA-vs.-The World all-star game Feb. 2 in Austin.

He will serve as the team’s offensive coordinator under Austin Westlake coach Darren Allman, Faircloth’s former boss when both coached Odessa Permian. Faircloth immediately said yes when offered the assistant coaching position.

 “They wanted me to think about it, but I don’t normally have to think about representing our country,” Faircloth said Thursday.

The game will pit many of the best American high school players with high school-aged players from around the world. The game is sponsored by USA Football, which is the official youth development partner of the National Football League.

The World team consists of players from 12 countries over four continents. USA Football has a partnership with the International Federation of American Football, which sponsors several American football youth leagues worldwide.

The game will be played at Austin Westlake High School. The game’s date, Feb. 2, is the first day of the national signing period for high school seniors to play college football.

Team USA has 42 players selected, and three more players will soon be added to the roster. Faircloth said he had not been told if he would have any say in picking the last three players. No Southeast Texas players are on the roster.