New Coach Aims to Bring Winning Culture to Hillcrest

A.D. Madise sees Hillcrest as a program on the cusp of a breakthrough, rather than a total rebuilding project.

The Panthers have had winning seasons in four of the past five years but haven’t been able to translate that success to the playoffs, where Hillcrest hasn’t won a game since 2006.

That’s the challenge for Madise, the former NFL receiver who takes over at Hillcrest after spending more than a decade as an assistant at South Oak Cliff and other successful stops.

“You pull the best things from the places you’ve been. This is not going to be SOC North,” he said. “You’ve got to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t. Our plan will be tailor-made for Hillcrest.”

The Panthers will have a handful of returning starters on both sides of scrimmage from a team that finished 4-6 a year ago.

Asher Randall is back at quarterback after throwing 13 touchdown passes as a sophomore. So is his leading receiver, Jacoby Ogbonna, a playmaker who reached the end zone 12 times last season.

The defense will employ a 4-2-5 alignment, with expected standouts including linebackers Jaden Morris and John Newton, and cornerback Evan Lewis.

Several players could see significant action on both sides of scrimmage, including Romeo Jackson, Desean Williams, Jerard Davis, Avery Winters, Micah Clark, and Jeremiah Howard.

“We’ve got a solid nucleus of kids and we’re going to be solid moving forward,” Madise said. “We just don’t have a ton of numbers yet. Patience will be key for us.”