To say that Don Carthel has elevated the West Texas A&M football to that of national prominence would be an understatement. What Carthel has accomplished in his first three seasons at WTAMU is simply amazing, having taken a program that had won just seven games over the previous four years combined and guide it to three-consecutive Lone Star Conference Championships as well as three successive NCAA Division-II playoff appearances - to go along with 33 victories.

During his first season in Canyon, Carthel and the Buffs surprised everyone, having been picked to finish last in the LSC preseason poll, as they registered a 10-1 regular season record and captured the school's first Lone Star Conference Championship in 19 years. Excitement about Carthel's program was evident as attendance soared with a regular-season average of over 14,000 fans a game at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium. In addition to garnering local praise from alumni and area media outlets, Carthel was honored by his peers by being named 2005 Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year.

After leading the Buffs to a 10-2 record in his first season in Canyon, Carthel was named the 2005 Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year.

Following that breakout campaign there was still work to be done as Carthel and the Buffs set out in 2006 to let the Lone Star Conference and the rest of NCAA Division II know that WTAMU was once again a consistent gridiron force, and that 2005's success was no fluke. The Buffs left little doubt as they posted an 11-2 season and became the first squad in school history to claim back-to-back outright conference championships. In addition, WTAMU put another mark in the school record book as it claimed the program's first ever NCAA Division II playoff victory with a 30-27 overtime victory over Abilene Christian. After leading the country in Division II average attendance the previous year, Buff fans again came out in droves to support the team, helping WTAMU rank first nationally in total attendance.

And that only set the stage for what was to come during the 2007 campaign, as the Buffs confidently went about amassing the school's first-ever undefeated regular season, going 11-0, claiming a third-straight Lone Star Conference championship and advancing two rounds into the post-season playoffs.

But this isn't the first taste of success for the Friona, Texas, native, as he has enjoyed several successful coaching stops during his career, including time at LSC-rival Eastern New Mexico, the University of Texas-El Paso and the University of Dubuque.

Carthel graduated from ENMU with a bachelor's degree in physical education and a minor in mathematics in 1974, then went on to get his master's in physical education in 1975. He played center for the Greyhounds from 1970-73, helping ENMU to a No. 17 NAIA ranking his senior season. In addition to his efforts on the gridiron, Carthel also threw discus for ENMU's 1974 national champion squad.

In 1975, Carthel began his coaching career at Floydada High School, serving as the defensive coordinator under legendary Hall of Fame coach L.G. Wilson. He helped lead Floydada to the district championship in both 1975 and 1976.

In 1977, Carthel moved up to the collegiate ranks, beginning at NCAA Division-III Dubuque University (Iowa). He was assistant head coach/defensive coordinator for the Spartans from 1977-79 and helped turn around a program that had won just three games in the previous four years combined. Carthel helped lead Dubuque to back-to-back Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) championships in 1978 and 1979, as well as the NCAA playoffs. During 1979, DU was undefeated and ranked No. 3 in the country.

Carthel returned to the high school ranks in 1980, serving as defensive coordinator at Fort Worth's Boswell High School.

One season later, at the age of 28, Carthel became the youngest head coach in the country when he took over at Lubbock Christian College (now Lubbock Christian University), a position he held from 1981-82.

Carthel then moved on to become an assistant coach at the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) from 1983-84 before returning to his alma mater to serve as head coach from 1985-91.

Carthel was announced as the 26th head coach in Buff football history on April 27, 2005

While head coach at ENMU, Carthel helped the Greyhounds make the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, as they became one the top programs in the LSC. In 1985, during Carthel's first year at the helm, the Greyhounds faced powerhouse Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University-Kingsville) in the season finale for a share of the LSC title. Despite narrowly losing that game, 21-17, the Greyhounds surged to the top of the LSC, claiming the conference crown in 1991 and becoming the first team outside of Texas to win the LSC championship in the conference's 59 years of football.

Carthel compiled a 44-28-1 (.610) ledger in his seven years at ENMU, winning seven or more games in five of his seven seasons, including opening the 1987 season with a 9-0 record and tying the school record for victories in a season. In five of Carthel's seven years, the Greyhounds were ranked in the Division II Top 20 Poll. In 2001, Carthel was honored with the induction into the ENMU Hall of Fame.

In January, 1992, Carthel resigned from coaching to return to Friona, where he farmed, raised his family and served on the Friona school board for nine years. However, Carthel could not stay away from coaching and became a volunteer coach for Abilene Christian.

During that time, his son, Colby, was a standout linebacker at Angelo State University, leading the Rams to the LSC South title in 1999. The younger Carthel would join the ACU staff in 2000 as the recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach. In Abilene, father and son enjoyed their first coaching stint on the same sideline, a scenario that would repeat itself in 2006 when Colby joined the WTAMU football staff as the Buffs' defensive coordinator.

The elder Carthel coached at ACU until 2004, when he was named the head coach and general manager of the Amarillo Dusters in their inaugural season in the Intense Football League. Amarillo posted a 15-3 record under Carthel and won the IFL Championship that year. The Dusters joined AFL2 in April of 2005 and had a 2-1 record when Carthel resigned to take the reins at West Texas A&M.

Carthel received honors from the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame after the Buffs' sensational 2005 season. In addition, Carthel has garnered the Coach of the Year award from the IFL, as well as being named to the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 for leading the Dusters to the IFL crown. That honor accompanies his 1991 Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame Honor for leading the ENMU football program to the LSC Championship.

Carthel was born in Dimmitt, Texas and raised in Friona, where as a child, he and his brothers found rides to Canyon to watch both WT football and basketball games.

"I've always loved coming to WT to watch sports. I remember coming to basketball games to watch Mike Mitchell and Maurice Cheeks, and I fondly remember football games. I began watching WT when `Pistol' Pete Pedro played and then Duane Thomas and through the Joe Kerbel era. It was always a highlight to come from Friona to WT games. Now, it's a privilege to be a part of the rich WT tradition."

Carthel and his wife, the former Cindy Phillips, of Farwell, Texas, have been married for 36 years, and have two adult children, Colby and Courtney. Colby continues to accompany his father on the sidelines as WTAMU's defensive coordinator and is married to Sarah (Butler) Carthel, an All-American volleyball player for the WTAMU Lady Buffs and current assistant for the WTAMU volleyball program. Courtney is married to Andrew Burgoon, an assistant principal in the Canyon ISD, and they have twin 4-year-old daughters, Kylie and Kyler, and a newborn son, Kelton.