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Keagan Smith

Award-winning journalist & photographer

Featured Articles

Some of my favorite work is listed below. For more of my written work, please visit the "Bylines" page.

DraftKings Network •

2025 NFL Playoff Preview: Houston Texans

Keagan Smith analyzes the Houston Texans’ playoff futures and whether they can bring a title to H-Town in this playoff preview.As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” However, the founding father forgot life’s final guarantee — the Houston Texans opening the NFL Playoffs in the 4:25 p.m. Saturday slot.


The boys in battle red and blue secured back-to-back AFC South titles with their second-straight 10-7 campaign. Unfortunately for their...
Port Arthur News •

Where are they now? Catching up with Coach Wade Phillips

Throughout a storied coaching career spanning 51 years, Wade Phillips has seen it all. The Southeast Texas native has been a head coach at the highest levels of professional football, won a Super Bowl and impacted the lives of countless athletes.
Yet after five decades in the coaching business, he just can’t walk away. Asked whether retirement has been on his mind lately, the 77-year-old’s answer was a strong one.
“I think they’re gonna have to scrape me off the field,” Phillips said.
“The older...
Lamar University Press •

Good, Bad... Ugly?

In a not-so dry and dusty college town, two young men walk into a bar. Both are decked head to toe in the traditional garb of an American pastime, but instead of cowboy hats, chaps and spurs, they sport helmets, shoulder pads and cleats.

This town isn’t big enough for the two of them, though. One becomes a hired gunslinger and takes a fifty-thousand dollar paycheck along with the starting quarterback job. Meanwhile, the other is forced to wander with the tumbleweeds until he finds a new home.
Orange Leader •

West Orange-Stark standout Chad Dallas excelling in minor league baseball, eyes Majors dream

Former West Orange-Stark pitcher Chad Dallas has learned to enjoy the grind of minor league baseball. After a strong start to the 2023 season, the 22-year-old was recently called up to the Double-A level and is beginning to see his effort pay off.

“It’s a really good feeling to get called up,” Dallas said. “It’s one of the small goals in the complete journey, but getting the call is really awesome.”

Dallas, selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft, has posted
Port Arthur News •

SETX's Charean Williams blazed her own trail in sports journalism, earns Hall of Fame honor

After nearly three decades of being a woman in the testosterone-fueled world of pro football, Charean Williams has seen it all.

From being a little girl giving play-by-play of Cowboys games, to covering 28 Super Bowls and earning a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, there’s nothing she hasn’t done.

For accomplishments like these and a whole lot more, Williams is being inducted Saturday into the Museum of the Gulf Coast Sports Hall of Fame. Also joining her is famed Lamar Unversity and NFL
Port Arthur News •

Mustangs legend Cornel Thompson inducted into SETX Coaches Hall of Honor

BEAUMONT — Former West Orange-Stark head coach Cornel Thompson was officially inducted into the Southeast Texas Coaches Association Hall of Honor at the organization’s annual banquet this week in Beaumont.

A legendary name in Southeast Texas and throughout Texas high school football, Thompson earned his place among the best of the best.

His coaching career spanned 51 years in total, 44 of which were spent with West Orange-Stark athletics.

“First of all, I want to say thanks to the Hall of Hon
Lamar University Press •

O'Malley has sights set on Southland glory

What does it mean to have a vision?

To some, it represents an outlook on the future and the goals we set for ourselves. To others, it’s more of a concrete course of action, representing the steps it will take to accomplish those things. A quick Google search defines the term as, “The ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.”

The past several years of Lamar University athletics have been filled with uncertainty, unanswered questions and a lack of transparency. Howev

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