Helms relieved of duties at Brownsville Rivera

BROWNSVILLE — Jim Helms' days at Brownsville Rivera are done.

A source close to the Brownsville school district speaking on condition of anonymity said Helms was relieved of his head coaching duties this week by Rivera principal Tim Snyder.

Snyder was contacted by RGVSports.com by phone at his residence late Thursday but declined to comment on the situation, referring all calls to his office Friday morning.

When pressed for a comment, Snyder refused and later told RGVSports.com, "Give me 30 minutes and call me back. Is that OK?"

Several calls to Snyder's residence went unanswered.

In three seasons as Raiders head coach, Helms struggled to a 5-25 overall record.

That was mostly due to lack of interest in the once-mighty Raiders football program.

Helms first made headlines as a head coach for the Brownsville Porter Cowboys in 2003.

After San Benito passed on hiring the hometown favorite, BISD athletic director Joe Rodriguez snagged the coaching commodity for the Cowboys vacant position.

It didn't take Helms long to wake the once dormant program as Porter went 8-1 during the regular season and even beat PSJA in a bi-district clash.

Prior to Helms, the most wins Porter ever recorded was four in one season.

Because of Helms, then Porter quarterback Billy Garza was also able to showcase his talent on a grander scale.

Garza emerged as one of the top QB's to play in the Valley ever.

After one season, Helms left and took over as head coach at Harlingen South where he not only won games but instilled a mental toughness in the South football players that led to quick success.

By Helms' third season at South, the Hawks were a legit title contender and came one game shy of claming the league crown.

In 2006, South went three-deep into the postseason losing to San Marcos in Laredo to end that season.

Helms left following the 2006 campaign and when Alan Cherry led the Hawks to a 12-0 season before a loss to Smithson Valley in the third round, it was common knowledge that the '07 Hawks were still the fruit of Helms' labor.

Helms left following the 2006 season to take over at Rivera.

Prior to his coaching stints in the Valley, Helms was a successful assistant at Division I universities like Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma , Oklahoma State, Mississippi State, Illinois and SMU. He was also the head coach at Cameron University.

He won a couple of National championships with the Longhorns and Sooners and coached the famed Pony Express of Craig James and Eric Dickerson at SMU.

Eladio Jaimez covers high school football for Valley Freedom Newspapers.