Pace post draws 13 applicants

The Pace athletic coordinator/football coach position received 13 applications, according to information provided to The Brownsville Herald by Brownsville Independent School District.

Initial interviews with the applicants should begin shortly. After that, it will be pared down to the finalists. Then, a recommended candidate will be presented for approval by the school board. The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 21, which would be a very realistic date to make.

There are five internal applicants from BISD, including Lopez offensive coordinator Jason Starkey and Porter defensive coordinator Ruben Cortez.

The list also includes two of the finalists for the recent Hanna opening — former Cotulla coach Marcus Booker and Harlingen High assistant Robert Lucio.

Not to be outdone, the list also includes two finalists from last year’s Lopez opening in Hidalgo assistant Carlos Saenz and Los Fresnos assistant Patrick Inskeep.

The Pace job came open for the first time in 14 years when Rene Medrano was reassigned to the athletic coordinator/football coach position at Hanna, per his request. His two coordinators, Rodney Morales and Danny Pardo, are making the move with him and did not apply for the job at Pace.

Pardo is the interim coach and was representing the Vikings during the UIL biennial realignment meeting last week in Edinburg.

The last time an athletic coordinator/football coach was presented to the BISD board, he was rejected. William Deen was the recommended candidate to take over for Tom Campos at Hanna last month, but the board voted him down in a 4-3 vote.

A few days later, Medrano left Pace to take over at Hanna. Deen, who was the defensive coordinator there for the past two seasons, said last week that he will remain with the Golden Eagles for now as an assistant and that he did not apply for the Pace job.

Todd Orodenker covers District 32-5A for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via e-mail at torodenker@brownsvilleherald.com. Follow him on Twitter @ToddO243.

The following is a list of the applicants and their current employers:

Richard Alaniz, United ISD

Marcus Booker, Northeast ISD

Ruben Cortez, Brownsville ISD

Miguel Gonzalez, Brownsville ISD

Anthony Hinsley, Corpus Christi ISD

Patrick Inskeep, Los Fresnos CISD

Roberto Lucio, Harlingen ISD

Esteban Marroquin, PSJA ISD

Robin Pyle, Brownsville ISD

Juan Rangel, Brownsville ISD

Carlos Saenz, Hidalgo ISD

Ryan Soule, ProTrans International

Jason Starkey, Brownsville ISD