UTEP alum Sam Singleton to lead Howard Payne's new flag football team

Girls and women's flag football is early in what appears to be a huge boom, and now UTEP alum Sam Singleton is riding the first wave. Singleton, a cornerback on the 2000 WAC championship team who got his UTEP degree a year later, has been tasked with starting up the inaugural women's flag football team at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas. More: Americas tops Harmony to win title on celebration day for girls flag football in El Paso UTEP alum Sam Singleton is the first women's flag football coach for Howard Payne University in Brownwood. UTEP alum Sam Singleton is the first women's flag football coach for Howard Payne University in Brownwood. The Yellow Jackets will compete for an official championship in the American Southwest Conference in 2026, one of 13 collegiate conferences nationwide that sponsors the sport. To that end, Singleton has begun the work of creating a program that will debut in the spring. Sam Singelton to build flag football program at Howard Payne "There's nobody that has a blueprint," Singleton said. "So if I land one of these (jobs), I'm going to be a pioneer in this thing, I'm going to be right at the forefront to build a program with the support of our AD. "It's humbling to know I'm being part of history. I'm paving the way not just for my (9-year-old) daughter but other young ladies joining the sport." More: Harmony flag football team headed to Dallas Cowboys game to be honored for title The 48-year-old Singleton, who also ran track at UTEP, has an extensive coaching background and began to get familiar with the flag football version of the game in 2019 in his hometown of San Angelo when he was a director for the Boys and Girls Club. He moved to Midland the next year and since then he has coached arena football professionally, was the head coach at Texas Leadership Charter Academy and held several different coaching positions in Ector County ISD, including a stint as secondary coach for Odessa Permian. Through all that he never lost his passion for flag football and kept doing that on the side, coaching his daughter in the Permian Basin Youth Football League. The longer he did that, while watching the sport grow at the high school and college levels, he decided to pursue that career path. He saw where the sport is headed. "Coaching flag with these girls really sparked a fire in me, especially seeing my daughter," Singleton said. "This thing can really take off if I dig deeper." Flag football enjoys boom time He talked with Stillman University in Alabama about its job, but eventually decided staying in West Texas, where he has spent almost his entire life, with his wife and child, was the way to go. He interviewed with Howard Payne, a private Baptist university, in mid-April and was officially announced as the program's first coach on May 1. "We are thrilled to welcome Coach Singleton to Howard Payne University," athletic director Adam Bright said. "Flag football is one of the fastest-growing sports in the nation, and we are excited to bring that momentum to our campus. Just as important, we are proud to have a West Texas native leading the charge in building this program and connecting it to our region." Howard Payne, a Division III school that doesn't offer athletic scholarships, announced last fall it was going to sponsor flag football, joining more than 240 schools nationwide that have added women's flag football in the past two years. Flag football catching on There are 10 schools in Texas that officially sponsor the sport, including six in the American Southwest Conference that Howard Payne competes in. At this point, the sport is biggest in Division III, which doesn't offer scholarships and makes it more affordable than schools that offer scholarships. Everything about girls and women's flag football is moving quickly. It's in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and on Tuesday, May 19, the NCAA Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact gave a formal recommendation to make it an championship sport. Its first championship is projected for spring 2028. Texas' high school governing body, the University Interscholastic League, has been studying sanctioning girls flag (17 states already do) and will give an update at its June 10 meeting. At the moment, the NFL sanctions girls flag in Texas through the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys and more than 160 Texas schools have it, including almost everyone in El Paso starting last spring. "This sport is growing rapidly nationwide, and we're proud to be part of a forward-thinking group of institutions in the ASC that are working together to create new pathways for women to compete, lead and succeed at the collegiate level," Bright said when HPU announced its sponsorship of the sport. Singleton begins the work of assembling a team Singleton's first job, obviously, is finding players. He's getting familiar with the recruiting service scoutSMART and will be back this direction at the beginning of August recruiting a tournament in Las Cruces being put on by El Pasoan Johnny Rivers of Sports X Inc., a major sponsor of competitions for flag football. "We have a budget, now I have to go get girls," Singleton said. "We're building our roster through the values of Howard Payne. I'm trying to get to 12 to 15 girls this year, second year bump up to 18, the third year, 2028, is when they are going to do NCAA championships. "The rollout is very steep, it's going to be monumental." Then he has to continue to teach and coach the sport. "It's a different game," Singleton said. "There are the same concepts, but there is more skill and finesse in flag compared to the grit and grind of traditional 11-man. It's exciting to see the support around the world. This wave is going to his big before the Olympics." When the NCAA fully takes over the college version of the sport in 2028, it will be walking into a good situation. "By the time this thing is settled in and the NCAA takes the horns, it's going to be settled," Singleton said. "It will be ready to roll. This provides opportunities for young ladies to get the college experience through the game of football." That's gone from zero to supersonic speeds in just a few years and Singleton is ecstatic to come along for the ride. About flag football Flag football is a non-contact sport played with seven players per side on an 80-yard field, emphasizing speed, strategy, and teamwork. Teams typically include 20-25 athletes, and most competition takes place in the spring semester. Texas teams sponsoring women's flag football At the moment 10 colleges and universities in Texas offer flag football, including six in the Division III American Southwest Conference. UT-Arlington is the only Division I program and there are no Division II programs offering the sport. UT-Arlington, Division I Concordia, Division III American Southwest Conference, Division III: Howard Payne, East Texas Baptist University, Hardin-Simmons, McMurry, Mary-Hardin Baylor, Schriener. Texas Wesleyan, NAIA Our Lady of the Lake, NAIA