Legendary Ennis football coach reflects on last game before retiring to fight multiple sclerosis

Sam Harrell has coached football since 1979 but is stepping away from the Ennis HS football program to seek treatment for MS

On Thursday night, Sam Harrell is leaving behind the game he loves. The legendary Ennis High School football coach is retiring to focus on his fight against multiple sclerosis.

His team played their last game Thursday night, making it Harrell’s last time on the sidelines.

MS may have confined Sam Harrell to a chair, but it can’t contain his spirit.

This coach is constantly moving up and down the sidelines trying to will his boys to victory.

On Thursday night, Harrell's Ennis team faced off against Corsicana High School in one of the most memorable games of a 45-year career.

Harrell’s Ennis teams of the early 2000s were dominant, winning three state championships with their high-flying offense.

Shortly after the last of those state titles came the diagnosis-- Harrell had multiple sclerosis, a disease that breaks down the body’s nervous system.

“It came early back in 2005,” said Harrell. “I was diagnosed and I had to retire.”

Stepping away from football, his condition slowly worsened, at one point leaving Harrell unable to walk.

He was fearing the worst.

“And then I started getting stem cells and got better,” said Harrell.

Harrell decided to travel to Panama for stem cell therapy, and he made a miraculous recovery.

Over months, he slowly won back the ability to run and exercise and returned to coaching Ennis in 2018.

“And so getting back on the field was a dream come true,” said Harrell. “I never thought I’d do that.”

It seemed like a storybook ending fit for a sports movie but in the last two years, Harrell started backsliding.

He’s been forced back into a motorized chair and has difficulty talking– and Harrell let his team know that after this season, he would have to retire to focus on his health.

“I’m trying not to think of the sad side, and trying to be grateful,” Harrell said.

The season hasn’t gone the way Ennis wanted it to. Although Ennis didn't make the playoffs on Thursday night, Harrell got one last chance to lead his last group of young men.

“And that’s what you have to remember, is that coaching’s not really about the wins and losses and the championships,” said Harrell. “It’s about all the kids you get to be around and the kids you get to influence.”

Harrell told NBC 5 that after retiring he planned to try another round of stem cell treatments and spend time with his seven grandchildren.