"I sent him to the store to get me a few things. I'm not letting him get too big for his britches yet," she said with a laugh.
And after the Salado school board unanimously approved Talbott for the position in a special meeting Thursday night, it's unlikely she will have to worry much about her husband getting a big head. He humbled himself before the board and made it fully aware that he understands what a great task he has in front of him at Salado, which rises to Class 3A beginning this fall.
"It may be tough for a while," Talbott told the board. "But we will get better. I have confidence in this school and these kids."
Talbott, 45, replaces Jeff Cheatham, who resigned June 15 to become football coach and athletic coordinator at 5A Round Rock. In 10 seasons at Salado, Cheatham compiled a 57-51 record, highlighted by a 13-1 run to the 2A Division I state semifinals in 2007.
Talbott served as defensive coordinator under Cheatham the last four years and has been part of Salado's coaching staff since 2004.
The Eagles advanced to the playoffs four of the last five years and also won a pair of District 25-2A titles in that span. Salado was 3-7 and missed the playoffs last season.
The Eagles allowed 311.3 yards per game last year and had one of the area's top pass defenses, giving up 80.9 yards per game.
During the 2007 run, which ended with a 41-31 loss to Tatum, the Eagles allowed 8.7 points per game and permitted less than 180 yards on average.
Now the challenge for Talbott and Salado will be the rise to Class 3A.
Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine predicted Salado to finish last in stout District 25-3A, which features perennial playoff teams Liberty Hill, which claimed state titles in 2006 and 2007, and Burnet along with Lampasas, which drops from 4A after qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2000. Llano and Taylor also are in 25-3A.
"We had a down year last year, and now we are moving to 3A," Talbott said. "But the kids' confidence has been great this spring, and they've been working hard during the summer. They look forward to the new district, new environment, new people."
The biggest thing that should help Talbott is his experience in Salado.
"I think it's going to be good with transition; they know who I am," Talbott said. "It will be a little different obviously - we have different people at different positions - but we are going to coach them hard and they will respond just like we want them to, just like they always have. We have a mutual respect and they've kind of grown accustomed to me."
He added that Salado has been preparing to move up to 3A for years.
"We've played West the last four years," he said. "We've scrimmaged China Spring and we've played Robinson. They are all great 3A programs, so that's helped us get ready. And we've done some great things the last few years. So we were getting in that 3A mode and we are going to compete."
He said the same holds true for the rest of the athletic programs, praising the postseason success Salado's various programs have enjoyed.
Talbott hasn't had time to completely evaluate Salado's new district from a football standpoint, but he knows it's a pretty tough one. He also said a lot of winning is about the numbers game.
"Class 3A is the toughest to compete in because it's such a broad range of population," he said. "We are going to be one of the smallest 3A schools in the state and play schools almost twice our size in our district. It's going to be a challenge but one we accept.
"They play with 11, we play with 11. We just have to build numbers. We are going to have good numbers on varsity and we are still going to have three teams. They may have 50 guys over there. We have 35 . . . so what? It's going to be OK as far as that goes."
And through it all, Talbott couldn't stress enough how much confidence he had in his athletes and the support he's received from the district.
"I'm real excited," Talbott said. "It's a great opportunity. It's a great district to work with - the administration, the school board, the principals and teachers. It's awesome and I'm real excited about being around those kids again. I'll be in a different leadership role, but it's going to be awesome."
And if it gets too awesome, he'll always have his wife to keep him humble.
mhood@tdtnews.com
