UIL baseball: Westlake coach J.T. Blair retires after a decade of leading the Chaps

One of the most coveted baseball jobs in the state is open. 

Westlake coach J.T. Blair announced his retirement this week after a decade of leading the Chaps. 

“Thirty-one years in coaching is long enough,” Blair quipped Friday in an interview with the American-Statesman. “It’s been a good run at Westlake. But my kids are getting older, and I want to watch them play. … I’m grateful for the years of trust, support and the incredible young men I’ve had the privilege to coach.”

Blair, 55, revitalized a Westlake program that had won just five games the prior season when he took over in 2016. He guided the Chaps to the playoffs eight out of 10 years — the pandemic canceled most of the 2020 season — with a run to the Class 6A state tournament and a 40-win season in 2023 being the highlight. Westlake went 219-96-4 during his tenure. 

“I think I’ve been a good steward of the program, and it’s time for somebody else to take over,” said Blair, who was also an assistant on the football staff. “I’m also proud of the fact that we became perennially ranked in the top 10 in the state and that’s where this program needs to be. I was glad to be a part of getting it back there.”

The son of a high school coach, Blair entered the teaching and coaching profession shortly after college as an assistant in both baseball and football at Denton Ryan. He had stints as a head coach at Carrollton Newman Smith and Marble Falls before being hired to lead Westlake in the summer of 2015.

“Todd Dodge hired me three times, and that’s something I’m proud of,” he said. 

Though Blair — who was the Statesman’s Central Texas coach of the year in 2023 —finished with 441 career wins, he noted the relationships with his players were the most important part of the job. 

“My dad instilled in me early on that it was not about what the players can do for you, but what you can for them,” he said. “I coached my whole career that way, and I think that’s all you can do.”

Westlake, which usually has a deep talent pool with multiple future college players and is perennially a contender for its district title, will start the search for a new coach immediately.

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