Coaches

Involved in speech and debate in the Dallas area for over four decades, Chris Agee recently retired from Newman Smith High School after 27 years of service to the community. He is a double diamond coach in the National Speech and Debate Association and was inducted into the Texas Forensic Association's Hall of Fame in 2015. A former policy debater for the University of North Texas, Coach Agee qualified for the NDT 3 times during his college career. Since then, he has experienced success in numerous formats and organizations, coaching students to local, state, and national success. Coach Agee is experienced in coaching multiple speech and debate events. In addition to private tutoring for middle-school students, he also provides coaching support to several schools in the metroplex, including Coppell High School and the Greenhill School. "Speech and Debate was a life-changing experience for me beginning at a young age. I was fortunate enough to build a career out of doing what I love the most--sharing these skills with others," he says. Adept at simplifying difficult concepts for younger debaters, Coach Agee is still actively engaged in the speech and debate community and looks forward to offering his unique set of skills to serve a new generation of competitors!

Frank Smith ( from our Partner Modernbrain) is a speech coach originally from Boston, Massachusetts. A two-time state champion and national semifinalist himself, Frank loves all interpretation events (but particularly adores Humorous Interpretation). He has worked for UTNIF, Fluency, Milton Academy, Leland High School, and many others. He's coached NSDA and NIETOC finalists and champions in Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Original Spoken Word Poetry, Prose, Storytelling, Expository, and Programmed Oral Interpretation. In 2021, he coached a four-time Showcase Finalist (the highest possible honor) at NSDA Middle School Nationals.Frank also works as a TV and film writer. He most recently was in the writers’ room on RAVEN’S HOME, the sequel to the hit series THAT’S SO RAVEN, for Disney Channel. Previously, he wrote an animated pilot with Tornante TV, developed a live-action series with Vice Studios (FYRE), and rewrote a horror movie with Fangoria / Cinestate (THE STANDOFF AT SPARROW CREEK). He has also published seven plays, a mix of comedy and drama, with the nationally-recognized speech and debate publishers Mushroom Cloud Press and Always Writing 4 U.

Coach Kate ( from our Partner Modernbrain) a NSDA National Champion in Impromptu, a California State Champion in Impromptu, and a Stanford Impromptu and SPAR Champion. She was mentored by the winningest speech coach in Southern California history, and she went on to coach national champions herself. Coach Kate was involved in Speech and Debate since her freshman year of high school. She competed in a wide range of events, including Original Oratory, OPP, Impromptu, Extemp, and Parliamentary debate. She was also the team captain of one of the most successful high school teams in California history. Coach Kate is also an accomplished MUN and Mock Trial competitor and coach. She competed for Brown University.

Coach Natalie found her love of debate during her junior year of high school when she joined Hebron High School’s Congressional Debate team. She quickly rose in notoriety in the same year and was chosen to attend the prestigious American Legion Auxiliary Bluebonnet Girls State, where her love for legislation shone as she was one of the five girl senators whose bill had been chosen for debate on the Texas Senate Floor. Since then, Natalie has coached for Hebron High school's congress and extemporaneous speaking teams while teaching Congressional Debate online, helping debaters learn how to efficiently conduct source research in an era of the rapid spread of information and misinformation. She earned a bachelor's degree in Economics with a concentration in International Studies at the University of Dallas.

Coach Anna is a highly accomplished speech and debate coach with over six years of competitive experience and a proven record of coaching, curriculum design, and student success. She specializes in developing confident, analytical, and persuasive communicators—from first-time debaters to nationally competitive speakers. As a competitor, Anna brings exceptional credentials. She was a Quarterfinalist and Top 3 Speaker at the Coolidge Cup Invitational Debate Tournament, an inter-league competition featuring 80 debaters. From 2018–2022, she competed nationally in the National Christian Forensics and Communication Association (NCFCA), earning 11 tournament championships across Team Policy Debate and multiple speech events. Her competitive record includes numerous regional titles, top speaker awards, and national-level placements, culminating in a National Championship Semifinalist finish in Extemporaneous Speaking and Quarterfinalist in Impromptu Speaking.As a competitor, Anna brings exceptional credentials. She was a Quarterfinalist and Top 3 Speaker at the Coolidge Cup Invitational Debate Tournament, an inter-league competition featuring 80 debaters. From 2018–2022, she competed nationally in the National Christian Forensics and Communication Association (NCFCA), earning 11 tournament championships across Team Policy Debate and multiple speech events. Her competitive record includes numerous regional titles, top speaker awards, and national-level placements, culminating in a National Championship Semifinalist finish in Extemporaneous Speaking and Quarterfinalist in Impromptu Speaking.Anna’s coaching philosophy is grounded in competitive realism and academic rigor. She emphasizes logical structure, strategic adaptation, persuasive delivery, and judge-centered communication—skills that translate beyond tournaments into academic and professional success. Her background in psychology research further informs her approach to persuasion, audience analysis, and student growth.

Coach Martin,Involved in speech and debate in the Dallas area for over thirty five years, Robert Martin retired from Newman Smith High School in 2023. He is a double diamond coach in the National Speech and Debate Association and was recognized by the University Interscholastic League for thirty years of service in the forensic community in Texas.

A high school debater and assistant coach while in college at Texas A&M Commerce before his professional coaching career, he has experienced success in numerous organizations and a variety of speech and debate events. He has coached dozens of students to the elimination and final rounds at state and national championship tournaments. Coach Martin has experience in most types of debate and individual speaking events.

“My high school speech and debate program changed my life. It gave me confidence, improved my critical thinking skills and even gave me a career. Although I retired, I want to continue to be an advocate for students and help them be successful in this amazing activity,” he says.

Coach Martin was also an AP World History teacher and currently tutors students in content comprehension and essay writing strategies that improve scores on the College Board exam.

Coach Kanza Jafri has coached and judged high school speech and debate at the local, state, and national levels since 2016. She is currently in charge of the Jasper High School Speech and Debate Team, where she leads students in both competitive preparation and skill development. Throughout her career, Coach Kanza has worked extensively with tournaments hosted by the Texas Forensics Association (TFA), University Interscholastic League (UIL), and the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA).

In addition to her school leadership role, Coach Kanza has served as a consultant for Hebron High School, Southlake High School, and Clark High School, helping teams refine strategy and competitive performance. Her former students have achieved outstanding success, including placing in finals at the TFA State Championship.

Coach Kanza is also an experienced summer instructor. Since 2019, she has taught at Harvard’s Summer Debate Council Workshop, and she worked with The Debate Institutes at Dartmouth in 2022. She specializes in Congressional Debate, Public Forum, Lincoln Douglas, World Schools, and Policy Debate, as well as Extemporaneous Speaking, Informative Speaking, and Original Oratory.

She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Consumer Experience Management in 2021 and her Master’s degree in Business in 2022. Passionate about education, Coach Kanza enjoys connecting with students and encouraging them to grow, build confidence, and sharpen skills they can use for a lifetime.

Coach Jonah( from our Partner Modernbrain) is a prized member of Western Kentucky University's nationally recognized forensics team. Jonah is originally from Minnesota, where he was a member of the Apple Valley Speech and Debate team. At Apple Valley, Jonah was the NSDA DUO national champion in both 2020 and 2021. He's the first and only competitor in the NSDA's history to win DUO twice and with different partners. Jonah also made multiple national final rounds at the NIETOC and TOC. In high school, Jonah competed in events like POI, HI, INFO, DUO and Storytelling. Jonah’s performances were not exclusive to speech; he was also a member of Apple Valley’s recognized theatre program and represented his school in the Minnesota all-state choir. He is excited to join the ModernBrain team, and is looking forward to helping students learn how to take on events like DUO interpretation.

Coach Rand (from our partner Modernbrain) a former NSDA national champion who currently competes for Northwestern University’s mock trial team. In high school, Rand won championships in Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Improv Duo, and Original Oratory at invitational and league tournaments alike. Rand earned octofinals in Humorous Interpretation, finals in Expository Speaking, and a National Championship in Storytelling during his junior year. Following high school, Rand enrolled at Northwestern University and joined the school’s nationally recognized mock trial team. In 2021-2022, Rand was selected to compete on Northwestern’s top team at the National Championship Tournament, ultimately earning 8th place at the competition — the program’s best placement in over a decade.

Coach Sean is an actor, director, and public speaker with years of leadership experience in academically competitive events ranging from Forensics to Mock Trial. As a senior in high school, Sean was ranked #1 in the United States of America by the National Speech and Debate Association and a four-time national tournament qualifier. He won numerous championships in multiple events including Humorous Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Student Congress, and Parliamentary Debate.

Also competing in Mock Trial for five consecutive years, Sean is an All-American competitor who helped captain the Yale Mock Trial Association to several championships, received numerous awards for “outstanding attorney” and “outstanding witness” respectively, and was the highest-ranked witness in the 2021 National Final Round.

Sean is a graduate from Yale University, where he double majored in Political Science and Theater and Performance Studies.

Eric Mueller is a debate and speech coach with more than 35 years of experience teaching college and high school forensics. He debated in high school at Tom C. Clark High School in San Antonio, Texas where he qualified for the NSDA National tournament in CX debate. After high school, Eric attended Baylor University where he learned research skills and helped the team win the National Debate Tournament twice and get second place once. His arguments were featured in the final rounds of the NDT for three straight years, including in 1988, when he created the politics argument and it was used to win the NDT.

As a collegiate coach, Eric has taken debate teams as far as the quarterfinals of the NDT and the quarterfinals of the CEDA Nationals tournament twice. He has coached many successful debate teams in college, including the University of North Texas, Southeast Oklahoma State University and Weber State University. As a high school coach, Eric has coached at Guyer High School in Denton, Colleyville Heritage High School in Grapevine and Royse City High School. He has taken a debate team to the quarterfinals of the NSDA National Tournament and speech students to finals at NIETOC and NSDA. He has also coached state champions in CX debate. Eric is also a college professor at Collin County Community College in Plano, Texas.

Eric is one of the premier research directors in debate. He has a strong grasp of all online resources and platforms to find nearly any type of information. He has held research positions at the University of North Texas, Southeast Oklahoma State University, Guyer High School and Paradigm Research. He has also worked as a professional journalist. He received his graduate degree (MA) at UNT.

Coach Noah, a graduate of USC, has coached students to great success in Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, Public Forum, and Congress debate. Noah is a leader with a passion for public advocacy. He was the youngest person to receive the ACLU’s Voice of Tomorrow award for his hard work and activism to make the world a better place.

Coach Noah's students ranked in the top four in the nation for the Reagan Great Communicator Debates, earning both scholarships and internship opportunities. His students have advanced to elimination rounds at various circuit competitions in Lincoln-Douglas and Policy Debate, including the Middle School Tournament of Champions, the High School TOC, the Jack Howe, and La Costa Canyon. He's qualified back-to-back teams to the High School Policy Tournament of Champions, one of the most prestigious competitions in America; both teams included novice debaters. Since Fall of 2023, his students have earned over 120 debate awards.

Daniel Murrah
Coach Daniel Murrah is a highly accomplished and experienced debater with over eight years of competitive success across policy, value, and limited-preparation debate formats.
In high school, Daniel earned 21 first-place tournament finishes, secured a regional championship in Extemporaneous Speaking, and consistently ranked in the top five at national tournaments in both speech and debate events. His momentum continued into college, where he competed in the International Public Debate Association (IPDA), finishing as the national runner-up as a freshman and capturing the national championship title as a sophomore.
Daniel holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) from Dallas Baptist University, where he further honed his analytical and communication skills. Outside the debate world, Daniel is passionate about cooking, gardening, traveling, skiing, and spending time with friends through online gaming

Brennan Schiltz is a nationally ranked debater and seasoned coach with extensive experience across both high school and collegiate debate formats.

As a competitor in the NCFCA, Brennan debated for six combined seasons in Lincoln-Douglas and Team Policy, earning 5th, 8th, and 4th place finishes at NCFCA Nationals during his senior, junior, and sophomore years, respectively.

In college, Brennan competed for the Dallas Baptist University Debate Team, where he served as the team’s Senior Captain. Since 2021, he has worked as a private coach, helping students master strategic thinking, sharpen their argumentation, and develop poise in both competitive and real-world communication. He is passionate about equipping students not only to succeed in rounds, but also to become articulate and principled advocates in any setting.

Brennan is a senior at Dallas Baptist University, where he is completing his undergraduate degree in Accounting. He is a proud member of student government and holds several honors and leadership positions on campus.

Coach Levi is an experienced speaker and debater with a competitive career that began in 2018, when he entered the NSDA as an 8th grader. In middle school, Levi focused primarily on speech events, winning 2nd at the state tournament in Oratory. Transitioning into high school, he expanded into debate, competing in Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Congressional Debate, and Big Questions. During his freshman year of high school, he qualified to Nationals in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.

Over his high school career, he collected multiple top-6 finishes in events ranging from Public Forum and Extemporaneous Speaking to Original Oratory, Prose, and Group Improv.

Levi returned to competitive debate at Dallas Baptist University, graduating with a BBA in Finance and a minor in Communication Studies. In college, he competed for two years in the International Public Debate Association (IPDA), earning placements in both Team IPDA and Individual IPDA at the 2025 national championship.