By the Numbers: Tony Villarreal is a 4-time winner

There are a lot of different terms people use to describe Weslaco head coach Tony Villarreal.

Make sure one of those is ‘winner'.

The longtime Valley coach has headed four area schools - and taken each of them to the playoffs - over his 18-year head coaching career.

With just four days until the 2008 regular season kicks off, Tony V's four different schools in the playoffs is the focus of the latest installment of the Star's "By the Numbers" series.

Villarreal has guided Port Isabel, PSJA North, Brownsville Hanna and Weslaco to the postseason.

He's rolled up an impressive 135-67-2 record and taken three 5A teams to the playoffs.

While it's been done before, more recently by Alex Leal (PI, McHi, Harlingen South, Raymondville), Villarreal's feat is one to simply marvel at.

PORT ISABEL: Villarreal started his career (the 1990 season) in grand fashion with the Tarpons.

PI went 11-2 and claimed a share of the 32-3A crown with Lyford and Progreso.

The Tarpons went an eye-popping 59-13-2 under Tony V. from 1990-1995, averaging almost 10 wins per season.

A big highlight came in '94, when PI went 13-1-1, including a 20-20 tie vs. Cuero in the third round. The Tarpons advanced on penetrations 5-3 to oust the then-number one Gobblers. PI beat Bandera the next week before losing to eventual state champion Sealy.

"That was a special team," Villarreal said previously. "Nobody had ever given them a game all season. They'd taken care of their opponents by halftime. We were hoping we could wear them down and be close in the fourth quarter, and that's what happened."

It was definitely the tie heard ‘round the country.

Villarreal said he received a call from USA Today the next week. The reporter said USA Today had planned to rank Cuero at No. 8 in its national Top 10 high school poll and wanted to know if the Gobblers had indeed lost on penetrations to PI.

"Apparently they weren't answering their phones over there in Cuero," Villarreal said.

PSJA NORTH: Villarreal took the show to Pharr in 1996.

He was splashed on football previews in the area proclaiming him "Tough Talkin' Tony."

Villarreal's team went 5-5 the first season.

But in 1997, the Raiders went 10-0 during the regular season and finished 10-1 before falling to Brownsville Rivera in bi-district.

BROWNSVILLE HANNA: Villarreal returned to his alma mater in 1998 to coach the Golden Eagles.

It could be viewed as Villarreal's "worst" stop record-wise, as Hanna went 35-38 in seven seasons before resigning.

But not before making his mark yet again.

In 2000, the Golden Eagles went 8-3 and won a 32-5A title, the school's first in 26 seasons.

WESLACO: After Hanna, Villarreal resurfaced in Weslaco ready to move on and again be successful.

He's done just that.

In three seasons with the Panthers, Villarreal's teams have gone 26-10 with three straight playoff appearances.

Last season, Weslaco went 10-3 and advanced to the regional quarterfinals, where they fell to San Antonio Madison.

By the Numbers is a periodic series that corresponds the number of days until the start of the 2008 Valley high school football season with a memorable athlete or moment. Sunday marks 4 days until kickoff.

Armando Garza covers high school football for Valley Freedom Newspapers. He can be reached at armandog@valleystar.com.