West Plains football hires Jeff Lofton to lead program

West Plains football hires Jeff Lofton to lead program

A little less than a month after Adam Cummings stepped down from his role as the head football coach of West Plains, the program knows the name of its new leader.

And it's a familiar face with plenty of prior success.

Jeff Lofton, who holds more than two decades of experience on the sidelines of multiple Texas high schools, was named the second coach in West Plains program history Monday. Previously, Lofton served as the associate head football coach and head powerlifting coach for the Wolves.

The move occurred on the heels of Cummings, who headed the program for four years, announcing he would not continue in the role of head coach for the 2026 season. Canyon ISD shared April 13 in a press conference that Cummings was moving into a new leadership role within the district, as the newly named Executive Director of Schools and Leadership.

Cummings left a difficult seat to replace, amassing a 42-13 record in four seasons and guided the Wolves to the quarterfinal round in 2025 — advancing to the postseason each year of his tenure. The Wolves also secured a second straight unbeaten District 2-4A Division I championship in 2025.

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Before joining West Plains, Lofton spent 13 years at Idalou High School, with nine as the head football coach and athletic director. During that time, Lofton guided the program to a 73-33 mark in nine years at the helm of the Wildcats.