WHITEHOUSE, Texas — Our road to New Orleans took us through Whitehouse, Texas, where Patrick Mahomes grew up.
I got a chance to sit down with two of his former coaches to talk about No. 15's "it factor," which they saw early in the athlete who has become a household name well beyond his hometown.
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Brent Kelley said Mahomes was a senior when he came to Whitehouse High School and coached basketball. Before that, he coached against Mahomes at a different school.
That, he laughed, wasn’t as fun.
“Our biggest thing is we’d try to go right at him to make him play defense because he was so good on offense," he said. "That was kind of our game plan to attack him.”
Kelley showed us the team-signed game ball from Mahomes’ senior night that includes the star's signature. He even still has Mahomes' basketball jersey.
At Higgins Elementary School, where Mahomes was a student, we found lots of tiny Chiefs and Mahomes fans as their spirit week kicked off with Mahomes Monday.
Principal Crystal Porche said about 90% of students will dress in Chiefs gear for days like this. Staff members even volunteered to decorate the school.
Just driving around, we found lots of signs and windows wishing Mahomes and the Chiefs luck.
We’ll have more stories from Whitehouse all week on KSHB 41!
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