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By Doug Haller TEMPE, Ariz. — To be great, Ra’Shaad Samples believes one has to create a system of greatness. The Arizona State receivers coach and passing game coordinator takes great care with this. It begins before sunrise. Samples wakes up in his Scottsdale complex around 4 a.m. He puts on tights and swims laps in a pool. With no chance of cell-phone interruption, he prays, eats breakfast and reads, underlining passages he finds interesting or important. Among the books Samples recently has read include “The Alchemist,” “The Power of Discipline” and “Extreme Ownership.” He records notes in his cell phone for each. “With extreme ownership, you must remove individual ego and personal agenda,” Samples wrote at 6:35 a.m. on Dec. 14. “It’s all about the mission. How can you get the people around you to perform the best they can to accomplish the mission?” This is one of many things Samples has absorbed from his father. Reginald Samples is a well-known high school football coach in Texas, a winner of so many games he has lost count. One publication refers to him as “The Godfather of Dallas football.” MaxPreps named him its 2022 national coach of the year. Reginald Samples is a man of discipline and process, and he has provided a blueprint for his son on how to succeed in coaching. As Father’s Day approaches, this is not lost on Ra’Shaad Samples. At one point, when he considered becoming a high school coach, he feared his father’s shadow — a life living as “Little Samples,” as he is known throughout Texas. This is no longer the case. Samples has his own dreams and has traveled his own path. At 28, he is considered a rising star. After a slow start, he accelerated quickly, first as a recruiter, then as a recruiting coordinator and position coach. In 2021, Samples was an assistant head coach under Sonny Dykes at SMU. Last year, he coached running backs under Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams. This season, Samples will assist offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin in Arizona State’s play-calling. In the spring, head coach Kenny Dillingham — at 33, the country’s youngest Power 5 head coach — predicted one day soon Samples would take over that designation. “Just super driven,” Dillingham said of Samples. “He wants to be the best at everything he does. And he’s grown up in this profession, so coaching is natural.” On the practice field and in the receiver’s room, Samples often will hear his father’s voice in the message he delivers to Arizona State receivers. Or he’ll see it when he glances at photos of himself. The way he stands, hands clasped behind his back. The way he leans. His mannerisms. From NFL to the college ranks, he’s learned from great coaches throughout his career, but there’s no doubt. He is his father’s son. Ra'Shaad Samples Reginald Samples recently threw out the first pitch at a Texas Rangers home game. He short-hopped the catcher, which prompted teasing from his son, but Reginald didn’t care. It was a great moment for his family. This is how Texas celebrates its champions. On Dec. 17, Reginald led the Duncanville Panthers to a 28-21 win over Houston North Shore to win his first state title and finally end a stretch of championship-game heartbreak. He had lost previous title contests on a Hail Mary pass and a blocked field-goal attempt that was returned for a touchdown in double overtime. Finally, Reginald Samples had reached the top. As the final seconds ticked at AT&T Stadium, Reginald noticed Ra’Shaad out of the corner of his eye. “He was like stalking me on the sideline,’’ Reginald Samples said. “As soon as we won the state championship, he grabbed me by the head and had me in a headlock.” “My dad would’ve never told you how important a state championship was, but if you were around him, you knew,’’ Ra’Shaad said. “To watch him do it, it meant the world to me.” Reginald Samples won’t reveal his age. (Told that Ra’Shaad says he’s 67 or 68, he replies, “You’re in the ballpark.”) Nor does Reginald know exactly how many wins he’s accumulated over 32 seasons as head coach. He says he’s not trying to be funny; he just doesn’t care to keep up. Wins (Dave Campbell’s Texas Football has him at 326) are simply a number. He’s more concerned about impact. Growing up in East Texas, Reginald’s goal was to play professional sports. That changed when his family moved to Dallas and he moved in with his uncle. George Roland was a basketball coach, and he often took young Reginald with him to the gym. There, Reginald noticed the respect his uncle commanded from his team. He noticed the impact he made. A seed was planted. As an adult, Reginald has coached at James Madison, Lincoln, Skyline and Duncanville high schools in the Dallas area. Early in his career, he developed a habit of waking at 2 or 3 a.m., grabbing a notebook and writing down thoughts or ideas. His reasoning was simple: With four children (Ra’Shaad, the only boy, is the youngest), this was the only time he could think clearly. “It’s like it gives me peace of mind, that time of night when it’s quiet,’’ Reginald said. Reginald coached Ra’Shaad at Skyline. A four-star prospect, his son was a gifted receiver, fast and precise with route running. But Reginald was hard on Ra’Shaad, seldom letting a mistake go unpunished. “I’m pretty sure a (normal) kid wouldn’t have a bad practice, go home and then have to go to his room. Or have his phone taken away,’’ Ra’Shaad said. He often caught rides home with a teammate just so he wouldn’t have to ride with his father. “Oh, I was terrible,” said Reginald, explaining that he was harder on his son so others couldn’t blame him for favoritism, which some did anyway. The larger, more important lesson: Nothing comes easily. Ra’Shaad played at Oklahoma State for a season before transferring to Houston, where multiple concussions ended his career. This hit him hard. Ra’Shaad reluctantly became a student assistant under coach Tom Herman but questioned his future. He considered becoming a CPA. Or maybe a Texas high school coach like his father. Dad’s response: You need to stay where you are. “I knew that he was in the right spot, and he had the right temperament for where he was,’’ Reginald Samples said. “And I told him, ‘Dude, you got an opportunity that only comes around once in a lifetime. Stay right where you are and sop up everything that you can. Show your wealth and talent.’ And sure enough, he went from Houston (and followed Herman) to Texas. He became one of the top recruiters at Texas and made a name for himself.” The son was on his way. Reginald Samples One day last week, Ra’Shaad Samples walked into his Arizona State office and sat at his desk. Like his morning routine, he has crafted a comfortable environment in which to work. On a whiteboard to his right, he has written inspirational quotes in red marker, reminders to himself. “What would I do to kick my own ass?” “Be an anteambulo.” That one requires some clarification. Samples explained that, in ancient times, an anteambulo’s job was to clear the path for a king. While it may seem like a small task, the anteambulo controlled the direction. He was the most important link. “And that’s how we should live,” Samples said, “wanting to clear the path for others because there’s actually more purpose clearing the path for others than sitting up on the throne.” In a cabinet, Samples has small boxes of every type of Yogi tea you can imagine — Green Tea Kombucha, Green Tea Super Antioxidant, Egyptian Licorice — more than two dozen boxes stacked neatly. He also has three scented candles on his desk with spares tucked away. In the past, fellow coaches have joked that Samples has the best-smelling office in college football. This may be true. “I don’t believe random acts create consistent results, so you have to create a system that will allow you to work well,” he said. Samples is ready to put everything he’s learned to use with the Sun Devils, but he wants to be clear. Because of his youth and personality, he’s earned praise throughout his college career as a recruiter. (Per 247 Sports, he currently ranks as the Pac-12’s fourth-best recruiter.) This makes Samples uncomfortable. Not the praise, but the label. Often in college, young, Black, personable coaches get boxed in as recruiters, an unfortunate obstacle. Samples would rather everyone focus on how he’s positioned to help the Sun Devils as a coach. Period. How as a graduate-assistant at Houston, he worked with Brian Johnson, today the offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles. How he learned from Dykes at SMU and from McVay with the Rams. Samples said that’s why he took the Arizona State job, to learn from Dillingham and Baldwin, but also to prove something. “When they talk about young offensive savants, when they talk about young guys who know the game at a high level, I should be in that conversation,’’ Samples said. “That’s what my goal was here. That’s what I came here to prove.” It’s a process that started years ago, playing for his father, not understanding his methods until much later. “I appreciate it so much,” Samples said. “It’s the best thing he could’ve done for me. Not give me the easy way out, be harder on me. It really prepared me for life. It really prepared me for this business. It really allowed me to have a reality, to always check yourself and never feel sorry for yourself. Never get comfortable with where you’re at. “My dad’s my superhero.”