Hess led his 1978 Angelo State team to a NAIA Division I Football National Championship.
[1] Hess began his football coaching career at Farmersville High School in 1959, winning one district title.
He led the Rams to six Top 20 rankings and a 65-23 (.731) mark, at the time the highest winning percentage in school history.
[1] He coached at Stephen F. Austin State University from 1982 to 1988, where he compiled a 47–30–2 record, including a 10–3 mark in his final season.
[1] Hess was named the head coach at New Mexico State University in 1990, where he inherited a 17-game losing streak.
Sean Payton and him are credited with "finding" Tony Romo in 2006, then an unknown, undrafted free-agent from Division I-AA Eastern Illinois.
[2] Hess later worked for Daktronics and as color commentator for football games at Angelo State University.