Two Wylie ISD football programs opened fall practice Monday, August 3, each carrying last season's sting onto the field.

The Wylie Pirates brought 34 returning letter winners to practice, a deep roster aimed at erasing last year's playoff miss. Wylie sat on the postseason bubble through the final weeks of 2025, going 4-3 in District 9-6A play through the stretch run per SI.com's playoff tracker, but couldn't punch through. That experience now fuels a squad with numbers most Class 6A programs would envy.

Across town, the Wylie East Raiders opened camp looking to build on a season that rewrote the program's record book. Head coach Marcus Gold's squad posted a 10-0 regular season in 2025, the first unbeaten regular season in Wylie East history. The Raiders' offense was led by Co-District 9-6A MVPs Amarean Porter and Nash Chapman, who paced the rushing and passing attacks, respectively, while the defense held opponents to 14 points per game.

The Raiders' historic run ended abruptly in the bi-district round, where Rockwall-Heath rolled to a 52-10 victory on November 14, 2025, at Wylie ISD Stadium.

That loss hasn't slowed the program's trajectory under Gold. After going 3-7 in his first season at the helm, Gold has led Wylie East to at least nine wins in each of the past four seasons, including playoff victories in 2023 and 2024, according to The Wylie News.

@WylieNews: "Football is back!!! @WERaiderFB are holding their first fall practice of 2026. Raiders are looking to build on their 1st 10-0 regular season."

Both programs compete in District 9-6A. The UIL regular season opens in late August, giving each squad roughly three weeks of practice and scrimmages before games count.