Jaimez: Gathering some thoughts

Some times there just isn’t too much to write about.

That certainly hasn’t been the case recently.

Here are some highlights and random thoughts from the desk of Eladio Jaimez:

>> Let’s hope, for everyone’s sake, that when HCISD superintendent Steve Flores recommends a football coach to take over at Harlingen South on Tuesday, it sticks.

Last month the Harlingen school board shot down Flores in public rejecting his recommendation of interim coach Jim Morton.

A total of 56 coaches applied the second time and kudos to Harlingen South for drawing that much interest.

In Brownsville, the Pace opening barely drew 13 applicants. And in Mission, 32 coaches applied for the opening at Sharyland.

I guess there’s something to be said about the interest in the South Hawks.

But if school administrators and board members can’t get on the same page, what’s the point?

Flores, who makes the final recommendation to the board, has to make the right choice.

There’s no more room for error, no more whiffs and no more mulligans.

He has to get it right.

If not this could all eventually become a huge joke to everyone.

Unfortunately to many, it already is.

>> Down in Brownsville, the BISD is looking to fill a vacancy as well.

After William Deen was recommended and rejected for the Brownsville Hanna job last month, longtime Pace head coach Rene Medrano was reassigned from Pace to take over at Hanna at Medrano’s request.

Medrano has been the most consistent coach in Brownsville the past few years taking the Vikings to the playoffs consistently and finally winning a playoff game last year.

So maybe he earned the right to pick his place in the Brownsville coaching circuit.

But that didn’t bode well for the Vikings football program.

It’s no secret that Pace can look forward to some lean years in their talent pool.

So whoever takes over, will definitely have to work.

It’s a very, very, very short list to pick from but there are some good names to choose from.

PSJA Memorial OC Steve Marroquin sticks out as a viable candidate.

Marroquin has served as OC at Rio Hondo and Memorial under head coach Gus Cavazos and has been instrumental in the Bobcats’ and Wolverines’ success.

Brownsville in general is not the easiest place to be a football coach.

So let’s see who’ll get the honor of leading the Vikings in the next few years.

>>Hidalgo football head coach and athletic director Scott Ford made his first big move last week when he hired former Harlingen South head coach Gilbert Leal to be his OC and quarterbacks coach.

For all practical purposes, Leal lost his job after being arrested on a driving while intoxicated charge on Oct. 6, 2011.

At that point he was placed on administrative leave and never returned to the sidelines even after his charge was dropped a few weeks later on Oct. 25, 2011.

Some allege that HCISD administrators used the charge, even though it was dropped, to get rid of Leal after a couple of years of futility.

Whatever their reasons, who knows? Leal has obviously moved on and it’s a great move for the Harlingen native.

It’s a great opportunity for Leal to ease back onto the sidelines.

It won’t be long before Leal is a head coach again.

>>Finally, Saturday Feb. 11 marked the 16-year anniversary that my father passed away.

It certainly doesn’t feel like 16 years.

At least not until I start to think back on everything that’s happened since that day in 1996.

From graduations, to births to marriages and even divorces, life went on.

When uncertainty and a lack of closure clouded my life in the years following his passing, I now find strength in the present and the realization that sometimes closure just isn’t an option.

My strength is in my faith, family and friends.

My strength is in writing, music, art, sports and you, the readers.

Whether you love or hate me, you give me some purpose.

And purpose is strength.

#randomthoughts

Follow Eladio on Twitter @lamerapluma