About
Many of you may remember him as “Coach Chamness” from his years as Head Coach of Boys’ Basketball at Graham High School from 2002-2010. His teams reached the regional basketball tournament in 2004, 2005, and 2010. The Graham Steers played in the State tournament Championship In 2005. Austin was a high school Head Coach in boys’ basketball for 20 years before retiring with over 350 career victories.
Chamness earned a bachelor’s of science in education from McMurry University in 1976 and a Master’s degree in Sports Management from United States Sports Academy In 1987. Austin was a 4-year letterman in football at McMurry University where he led the nation in punting in 1973, earning All-American NAIA honors. In 1975, he set the record for the longest punt: 81 yards – record that stands to this day! Austin was selected All-Conference TIAA punter in 1976. In 1980, Chamness was signed as a professional punter with the St. Louis Cardinals. He went on to serve as a teacher/coach at Brownwood ISD, Joshua ISD, Weatherford ISD, McMurry University, Jayton ISD, and Graham ISD. His primary teaching fields were English and World History, and he coached “ whatever sport was in season”. In total, Austin spent 35 years in the public /private education system. After retiring from GHS in 2010, Chamness worked as the assistant golf pro at the Cliffs Resort.
Austin embarked on his new Realtor career with Weatherbee Real Estate In July of 2015. In his three years as a WRE Realtor, Austin has facilitated 70+ “win-win” real estate transactions for buyers and sellers in Graham and surround communities.