Caceres recommended to keep job

EDINBURG — When Joey Caceres was told the Edinburg school board voted unanimously to recommend him for the position of Edinburg High head football coach and athletic coordinator, there was only one person he said he thought about.

“The first thing that came to my mind was Coach Robert Vela,” said Caceres, who served as the Bobcats’ interim coach this season after Vela died of stomach cancer in August. “Since I started working for him, I started at the age of 25, I learned everything from him. He was a great mentor.”

ECISD Superintendent Gil Garza said continuity was one of the strongest factors working in Caceres’ favor. Despite a winless 0-10 season, the first for Edinburg High since 1932, Garza sounded confident Caceres would be able to get the Bobcats back into contention.

After Vela’s death, the Bobcats struggled, finishing seventh in District 31-5A in offense and last in defense. The closest the Bobcats came to winning a district game was seven points, a margin by which they lost twice.

“We’ve got some big shoes to fill,” said Garza, who added Caceres will work under a one-year contract. “It’s the closest, as far as continuity is concerned. I think that the recommendation that was made by the board, is probably the closest we can have to continuity.”

Other candidates considered for the position included Eduardo Carrillo, the offensive line coach at Mission Veterans, and George Espinoza, the San Benito defensive coordinator.

Caceres, however, is familiar with the Edinburg High roster and gained experience this season as a head coach.

Still, Caceres admitted he was “concerned” he might not keep the Edinburg coaching position.

“Any time there’s a job open you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Caceres said. “I felt like I had done everything and my coaching staff had done everything that we could do to get this program going. But you still have the concerns. We didn’t have a good season, one of the toughest seasons we’ve ever gone through as a coaching staff.”

Even though Caceres’ first season wasn’t a smooth one, Garza said that one year of experience also factored into the decision to retain Vela’s longtime assistant.

“He started the season as coach there with the first game,” Garza said. “That, maybe, did not give him the opportunity to start the program during the spring, but having that full year of interim experience and having the support of coaches and the staff of EHS behind him, I think that really boosted the program.”

By next fall, Caceres will have been in charge of the Edinburg High program for over one year. He still, however, will be influenced by Vela.

“Like I said, Coach Vela was a great mentor and one of the best coaches in the Rio Grande Valley, and I know how he would handle certain situations and certain things,” Caceres said. “That’s going to help me get this offseason going.”

Brian Sandalow covers District 30-5A for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956)-683-4436.