My two sons played football in Midland with coach Parchmen and I tought there , my wife now teach at Utep, my observation as a HS teacher in EPISD now in comparison as booster and parent, coaches do not get the kind of support from AD's and district as other places in texas. For example in Episd the AD does not fight for the FB programs Kenny Owens is Awful wouldn't be tolarated anywhere else here are some facts , just ask or look them up through the EPISD.
1. Coaches have no control over middle school , hiring or having those coaches answering to the HS staffs.
2. No money for scouting to teams who make playoffs
3. only 20 dollars by his office for the coaches to attend the EP clinic WOW
4. Very seldom does he provided money to updated video and headsets for teams
5.Field are kept but in comparison to other school districts it lacks work.
6. Never stops by football offices hey fellows what do we need?
&. Does not support staffs in hiring processing for coaches within the School to have coaches in the same school as they coach in.
7. It is the worst paid district in coaching stipens in comparison to the other school districts in town.
these ar 8 reason why he neeeds to chage or be fired , now that Iam in el paso I feel our youngmen need the best and coaches need to be supported I would be saying this is hurt the man but he hurts our kids and coaches your thoughts GUYS but do yourselves a favor check for youselves and don't judge until you do

sorry 8th reson. does not have active program to maintaon current coaches in town or recruit the youngmen coming out of college to develope a pipeline?

Out of towner,

I recently posted another thread "El Paso Football players lazy?". Your reasons are exactly the circumstances that I eluded to. I don't think the kids work any less, I just think the way it is done in other parts of Texas is more conducive to creating winning programs.

I agree with you.

It's about time that someone said what needed to be heard. Way too many coaches are either scared to speak up or they don't care enough to go the extra mile. With what I see EP gridiron is what we all make of it. Since EP gridiron began they have given us the opportunity to email in our comments and suggestions. They even put this board for us all. We can either run our mouths like maniacs or discuss El Paso high school football's in's and out's. It's been over half a century and we still have not brought home a State Title. El Paso players and young coaches should be saying what we here at Utep say...OUR TIME IS NOW.

Out of towner said what needed to be said and he stayed free of bad language. That there is someone who cares. People like that keeps me supporting EP gridiron.

Thank God for EP gridiron
Go Miners

We have Great Kids! in el paso take it from me I have to boys in the Midland ISD adn the differance was the AD's and School support, and coaches are scared to speak. I teach in the westside and try to keep up and iam just getting to know all the schools. Here is another example this year one school had a 7 on 7 for their middle school one of the northeast school andress I believe, that was great it's not a new idea, but it's a wonderful start all those other schools around texas have these type of activities my boys were weere going to the HS since 7th grade dong things like this they were instiled with school pride and loyalty that is were it begins I have a couple issues i will bring up to the board this fall and I will adress Mr Owens in front of them!

hEY MY SON WAS IN A SEVEN ON SEVEN AT ANDRESS IN APRIL HE LOVED IT AND HE GOT A T-SHIRT SAYING (CLASS OF 2010) IT WAS A ALL-DAY THING AND THEY PLAYED ALL THE OTHER FEEDER SCHOOLS ATE LUNCH THERE AND THATS ALL HE TALKS ABOUT AND HE IS REALLY EXCITED ABOUT FOOTBALL AT ANDRESS. I HOPE IT CONTINUES AND OTHER ACTIVITIES LIKE THIS TAKE PLACE AND MY HAT OFF FOR THOSE ANDRESS COACHES FOR TAKING A STEP TO BETTER THEIR PROGRAM. YOU GOT MY SUPPORT MIDLAND MAN

Out of towner we need more people like you.

Bottom line are the student athletes. Isn't that the reason why people become coaches?

High school sports promotes good character values and a healthy lifestyle. Character development! Teach, enforce, advocate, and model appropriate behaviors in all areas of life for all student athletes.

Even the parents should get involved by staying informed with their child's institution academicaly and athleticaly. Plus more parents should allow their kids to participate in sports.

Spectators should get involved with the Athletic Directors or vice-versus. Such as to to teach proper behavior of the spectators, encouraging them to make supportive comments to athletes, parents, officials, and coaches of both teams on the field, not just their team.

Lots of changes must be made but it will take coaches to stand up to these AD's and make it happen. Then and only then will are District be as others from Texas.

The favorite words of the AD's CUTS and BUDGET. That's a bunch of bolony

Go Miners

The kind of support you talk about is happening in the Ysleta school district ... at least in theory. The school board last week approved the superintendent's priorities, and one of them is the creation and support of competitive athletic programs.

It must be said that the administrations should be concerned with the academic achievement of students first and foremost, but athletics is a big part of the school district.

part of the problem is site based management that allows principals to fire coachs w/o cause in yisd
football budgets
1 hanks 21000
2.bel air 15000
3. eastwood 8000
4. parkland 8500
5.del valle 8000
how is this fair

You have budget right but remenber coach have to recondition the epuitment out of this budget, on an average EPISD allowes 10,000 to each staff and to recondition each year is 8 to 9 thousand you are left with 1,000 for jerseys and other stuff, you are expecteed to fundraise, in other school districts the budget is way biggger so coaches can focus on football
heck i just found out to the district that only the head coach and 2 cordinators are allowed a football period after the season so that leaves 3 guys coaching about 150 to 180 guys in the off season,also the video equiptment was last update in the late 80's
and if it needs repair it's up to the coaches to replace or repai out of their own budget. Hey all I am saying all these guys expect champions year in and year out so treat and invest in these programs so that at least they have a fighting chance, the bottom line ti helps our player. who can help with this a AD who supporrts the coaches not one who wants to keep his job and keeps cutting the kids short like kenny ( my hands ar tied) Owens

This topic hits the nail on the head! We don't give the resources needed to create a competitive football program with the rest of the state. I filmed for Coronado for the past few years, and the difference in video equipment is astounding. The guys from Midland had more equipment than KVIA has for Friday night games. I had two small cameras, and the Midland camera people told me that Midland didn't have much equipment, so many other schools have a scoreboard that shows replays like UTEP has. I told him that I felt his pain as I opened up our small camera bag, while he had at least five huge boxes of equipment.

I think that's what EP Gridiron is trying to do. If you read their FAQ (frequently asked questions) page you will get kind of an idea of what they are trying to do with high school football in EP. Seems that they want to cover every high school football game here in El Paso and they also want to give out scholarships. I hope EP Gridiron gets lots of support so that they can make it all happen. I guarantee you that the Athletic Directors have seen this site. Whether they are for it or against it I don't know but what I do know is that change will occur. Like that other person said EP Gridiron has given El Paso high school football a new face.

The EPISD needs to start treating it like a business. That's how they run the football program up here in Warren, Ohio.
Besides their budget. All the money generated by the sales of tickets goes to the football program. The stadium fills up every game with about 15,000+ at $5-$6 per person. They managed to pay for a new stadium, uniforms(every two years), and misc.(million dollar weight room, practice equipment). Some of the money bought new computers for the school.
What El Paso needs is a better school board that's in it for the kids not for themselves. and some out of town coaches with winning abilities.

THINK ABOUT iT THINK OUR COACHES ARE GREAT THEY STAY IN EL PASO BECUASE THEY HAVE ROOTS BUT JUST IN THE LAST MONTH 4 HAVE LEFT FOR OUT OF TOWN JOBS, AND WHY WOULD A COACH AT A SCHOOL WITH RESOURCES COME DOWN HERE TO DEAL WITH THIS MESS, THE OLNY ONES ARE THE COACHES WHO HAVE BEEN RUN OUT OF OTHER PLACES, LETS SEE WOULD TODD DODGE COME DOWN HERE I DON'T THINK SO SO LETS SUPPORT OUR KIDS AND COACHES HERE BY WRITING TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND AD'S AND DEMAND EQUAL OR BETTER TREATMENT AS EVERYWHERE ELSE IN TEXAS OUR KIDS DESERVE BETTER

yisd cut developmental programs in the district but spent 60000 on the convocation so the stupedintendent
and school bored could get face time on the newspaper and tv if newsman reads this ask how they cacel programs for freshmen and spend money to try to look good

I agree with all of you that something has to be done. High school football here in EP is in dire need of many things. I'm hearing from many of you that coaches need more assistance from Athletic Directors.

How about the players needing more assistance from their coaches? How many coaches actually help their players in getting noticed by college recruiters especially their star players? Do coaches send college recruiters highlight reels or make phone calls for their players? Do coaches advise the parents on what they can do to help their kid in the recruiting process?

There are thousands of former El Paso high school football players who regret not having been advised by coaches who should of been knowledgable about the recruiting process. Alot of former El Paso high school football players had the grades, talent, and attitude to go either to a Division I, Division II, or Division III Univeristy. As a matter of fact alot of these former players who had all the tools to continue their athletics in the collegiate level are currently assistant coaches in El Paso. I know that many of these coaches are angry because they were not assisted in being informed about the opportunities during their sophomore year. Up to this day most of these former players regret not being given the opportunity and they are too busy blaming themselves instead of speaking out and addressing the problem. Why must the cycle continue, why not put a stop to it and help today's student athletes?

Athletic Directors need to assist coaches more and Coaches need to assist their players as well. Don't put the heat only on the AD's.

Most importantly it must all start with the parents. Parents need to breath down on the AD's and Coaches necks to get things done properly for the best interest of our student athletes here in EP.

The start of this process begin with the AD's as far as getting notice well the parents need to send their kids to camps UTEP is a good one for only $25 dollars and some local ones the rest the players has to be invited. For a player to get recruited he has to be notice 1st not only in el paso but in other areas. You most of our kids do great when they play each other but the truth is that the test lies in the area out of town how good do you fair with those guys, our standards are low and they need to increase eveyone gets excited becuase we when 2 playoff games when this is expected of other schools, I would get excited when we reach the Semi's, but to do that are AD's need to stop cutting corners and support the coaches. and believe it or not if a player is good enough walk on to utep and prove it on the field it's home tution and also NM state is a hop and askip away, if a player really wanted to they could play coleege ball but it takes doing on their part, they are some schools that help their kids example franklin coaches really go out of their way to make contact, Andress is the same way infact they have two players maybe 3 recieveing full schorships prior to their senior year to D-1 schools 2 of them have committed or Chip 1 kids has been offered prior to his senior year, Eastwood those guys are very active sending letters and getting kids in small school my son was one of them.

OKAY you said "For a player to get recruited he has to be notice 1st not only in el paso but in other areas. You most of our kids do great when they play each other but the truth is that the test lies in the area out of town how good do you fair with those guys"

Well how do the coaches here in EP fair to out of town coaches. Both ways man OKAY. You want EP players to do good out there well how about changing the plays. Eastwood is all about the running game. Riverside is all about the running game. etc... Once they go to the playoffs the out of town teams are creative. Once out of teams go up 21 to 0 that's it lights out for these running teams.

Funny how you say that running teams are not good in the playoffs. The only team that has beat Southlake Carrol since they moved up to 5A are the Katy Tigers, which were a running team. I disagree with your statement. I think to beat these high power teams like Carrol that throw the ball nonstop, you have to run the ball effectively and grind out the clock, limiting the number of times their offense gets the ball, and then play good D whenever they do have the ball.

Sean Eastwood and Riverside are not the Katy Tigers. Comparing an El Paso team to an out of town team is ridiculous.

Just making the point that you can be effective no matter what you do. Run or pass, its more about execution then anything

what does eastwood do to help the kids get scholarships if anything???????????????????????

HEY(jojo) MOST OF THE COACHES HERE PLAYED COLLEGE BALL. AND THEY CAME BACK TO COACH IN THERE HOME TOWN AS FAR AS HOW COACHES FAIR WHEN NOT IN EL PASO JOHN PARCHMAN LONG TIME COACH SOCORRO WHEN TO MIDLAND WON A COUPLE OF STATE TITLES WITH AND WITHOUT CEDRIC BENSON OH YEAH USA TODAY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP COACH CARSON FROM SOCORRO MADE THE SEMIFINALS LAST YEAR AND HIS TEAM IS RANKED THIS YEAR, LETS SEE CORALS FROM CORONADO LATE 60'S EARLY 70 LEFT CORONADO WON STATE CHAMPIONSHIP IN COLORADO. BOTTOM LINE IT'S UP TO YOU TO GET NOTICE AND GET A SCHLORSHIP COACHES CAN'T PLAY FOR YOU HERES A GOOD EXAMPLE ON HOW TO GET NOTICE THIS YEAR ON ONE OF YOUR GAMES BREAK ASTATE RECORD AND GET NAMED TOP TEXAS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK 1. MORE SACKS 2, POINTS SCORED,3.TOTAL TACKLES 4. MORE TOUCHDOWN PASSES,5. ALL COMPLETIONS,6 BREAK THE RUSHING RECORD 7. INTERCEPTIONS, 8 PLAY OF THE WEEK
9. SPECIAL TEAMS 10. ONE OR MORE THEN ONE OF THESE. i JUST GAVE YOU 10 WAYS TO GET NOTICE jOJO YOUR COACH CAN'T PLAY FOR YOU BUT IF YOU DO 1 OR MORE OF THESE THINGS HEY WHO KNOWS NOTRE DAME HERE I COME , YOU WILL GET NOTICE.
OLD CLECHAE IT'S UP TO YOU STOP THE CRY BABY STUFF BE A MAN AND TAKE MATTERS INTO YOUR OWN HANDS REMENBER LOSERS BLAME THE WORLD WINNERS MAKE IT HAPPEND WHICH ONE ARE YOU THATS RIGHT YOU JOjO ARE GONNA CRY AND TELL YOUR KIDS HOW GOOD YOU COULD HAVE BEEN BUT A COACH HELD YOU BACK ARE YOU GONNA DO 1 OR MORE OF THESE 10 THINGS AND MAKE A DREAM COME TRUE OR CRY AND BLAME EVERYBODY BUT YOURSELVE . WHISH THE BEST OF LUCK jOJO AND MAKE IT HAPPEND

I now thats all mostly true but its all different anywhere you go

Great to see people talking about important issues.

Good question Trooperblue, why don't you ask the coaches what they are doing to get kids scholarships. Vargas was pretty good, hopefully they helped him find a college where he can play.

coach ardoin and coach barton send out over 200 dvd to college all over the country with a resume and highlights of every trooper that wants to play eastwood does the best job in town in helping seniors
1. jared fink redlands
2. mitch hernadez eastern newmexico
3. spencermhernandez sterling college
4. mike vargas doane college
5. jack arnold (some place in arizona)
get one of the eastwood guys to talk to barton i am sure he would be glad to share how this process came about

Sounds like the Trooper coaches did well. They put a lot of work in to help the kids get to college.

If more players talked to their cooaches they would help

programs all over the city need support. we need better equipment

Great topic guys

I sure learned a lot here

How about the parents? It's ultimately the parents responsibility to make sure their kid is promoted at the next level. Parents, don't sit there and wait for the district, coach, etc. to do it for you... Your kid will be sitting at home waiting for tuition money. Get with the Coach, find out what he can do for your kid, and if your kid actually has a future at the next level. If your not happy with what he can do, get with it yourself. Give the coach a list of Coaches you want him to send tape to, get letters from the coach. Don't wait for anybody. I agree, at the local level, the football programs are not supported as much as they cold be. The districts are more concerned with using the money for eductaional programs (like making sure they pass the Tests).. that brings the district more funding...football does not. If the parents get more involved... the Districts will respond.

Boosters need support

Boosters are the support. Hellooooo

about elpaso teams competing
sean is right it is about execution and who says u cannot compare an elpaso team to an out of town? imean thatis what they said about us against midland who was thought of as 13 in the state and we executed and we won. becareful with generalization.

I believe the Districts are doing enough in supporting the football programs here in El Paso

i stopped reading this about half way. some good points, some stupid ones...

i got an idea. instead of yelling at the rain because its coming down, (which is what we are doing by whineing about how things are) lets do a few things to help the football programs.

1. donate money directly to the football boosters
2. support the football team on fridays
3. help with fund raisers and community events so that the teams can see the support.
4. donate supplies that the team needs
5. start a booster club sort of like the colleges have alumni chapters at each school to fund raise and get money for the teams
6. have good coaches start little league and club sport football teams around the schools THAT RUN THE SAME THING THE HIGH SCHOOLS ARE RUNNING.
7. have a coaching school for these coaches so that the kids know how to tackle and block correctly.
8. support whatever team is playing against the bad guy out of towners

therse alot we all can do to move ep football in the right direction... whinning on it on a message board about how bad we have it in comparison is not the answer.

thetruth

whinning on it on a message board about how bad we have it in comparison is not the answer.

whinning about on a message board is a start. Isn't it

i didnt know i was in english class.

you understsood me right?

besides whinning or whineing or crying about it is never a start

thetruth has some great ideas that can help a program get better. The programs that have booster clubs and develop ideas he brought up are strong programs. I hope others join in on the work to be done.

TRUTH:

I like your ideas. I think everyone who cares about high-school football and has some spare change can make a donation to a booster club. Or at least go buy a burger from the booster stand at the football games.

A burger with jalapenos

School districts like the money that athletics bring in but still say that education is more important

I always wondered where the money from fund raising went. I have been to games where I see the band being awarded letter jackets. In football, which school gives their players a letter jacket? I would like to know. I remember back in our days (which isn't too long ago) we would have to earn our letterman jacket based on the amount of playing time. Which schools give out jackets and why is it that all schools don't do this? These kids play hard and I think they deserve to be given these jackets! Where does the money go? Not all schools have booster clubs and why is that? Shouldn't the athletics dept for each school district make sure each school has one?

One AD going DOWN !!!!! It's about time!!!!!

The entire city and surrounding counties are in the same boat, No one is held accountable on anything. All schools are site based managed and many hire their friends for the football jobs instead of hiring the best people for the job. Open up all resumes to the public and see who really is the best candidate for the job. If el paso coaches are continued to be hired at these jobs the football will not get better as well as if the ad's are not held accountable then nothing will be done. I truly believe that as a coach you must go out and get some knowledge go to clinics visit colleges and see how things are done and how the program is operated. For the most part if you played in el paso at the high school level and thats all you know that is what you will be teaching your current players it is a continuing cycle that will get better very slowly if other people are not hired for the ad and head football jobs

Alright cowbaoy have a question for you, how about if DC that has been at Irvin , and El Paso Hs, and Burges, as a DC and has had no success and still blames the system for his lack of success. but his called the shots what about that guy. maybe he should not be in that position anymore, maybe he has gotten old and can be held accountable.

Booster clubs have to be seperate and can have no influce by any ATHLETIC sport like football, baseball, volleyball. There are many rules set forth by UIL and for the most part all boosters I have seen follow these rules.

Band is based under fine arts and I do not know the rules for booster affiliation. Join band and play a sport if you want a jacket many kids do.

When I played all we got was the letter. We had to purchase the jacket which many could not afford because I attended a Title 1 school.

If the district gets involved by hiering big dollar coaches, handing out letter jackets, better facilities than that only means one thing MORE TAXES.
Most head varsity football coaches receive payment of over $10,000 in adddition to their teaching duties. So if we bring in fifteen or more coaches at $100,000.00 and tell them thats all they do is coach we still have to find an educator for the missing slot. Everyone cries when their property taxes go up and would never stand for the increase needed to work this kind of system.

Boosters are great if there is involvement and teamwork, however, it is usually left up to only a few and they eventually get burnt out and stop.

I still belive it takes 20% coaching and 80% athlete.
Remember Mr. Miagi from Karate Kid.... "I say you do"

This is the time to get our community to rally andget more resources for our FB teams and ask our AD's to speak up for the coaches and help equal the resources to the rst of Texas.

YES

Coaches need more assistance.

Yes Don't Cut it My wife and myself are scheduling a meeting with our local Ad and ask a few questions and make a few recommedations in a positive manner. In hopes that it will help my son's team and coaches in the future. Bigger budgets, money for clinics for players and coaches, more coaches on staff, better weight room for kids

Parents have to get involved. My father will also be meeting with the AD. My father is part of the booster. He knows support is important he even supports this site evey month.

It's obvious that parents of players here in El Paso don't do much in putting pressure on the Athletic Directors.

Just look at who began this subject. Someone from outoftown. OutofTown people that come on this site seem to care a lot more than local people.

I guess they see the problem clearer being outside of the box.

Parents must get more involved and cause change. If the parents do not get involved then the AD's will continue to do what they do. Nothing.

just a little example of el paso football being treated as just another sport. Who in their right mind would schedule girls volleyball on friday nights during football season? These kind of decisions are the reason the fan base for football has been diluted. Football is or should be the big money maker for the school district and should be the ONLY thing happening on Friday nights. Does anyone really think that girls volleyball is scheduled on friday night in Odessa,Tx.? Football has to be in a league of its own in El Paso if we are to compete with the rest of Texas. We can not treat football as just another sport and fund it as we fund other sports.

I love high school football but my daughter plays h.s volleyball on fridays. Yes, I was missing h.c football just becuz volleyball was on friday nights. very poor scheduling!

They got to get that Volleyball moved to Saturdays. Football is what brings in the dough.

REALLY, THAT IS SAD WHO WOULD SCHEDULE FRIDAY NIGHT VOLLEYBALL DURING FOOTBALL THAT S**** IS CRAZY. NO CROWD FOR VOLLEYBALL AND YOU SHOULD WANT EVERYONE THEIR FOR FOOTBALL GAME

Volleyball on Friday nights? No wonder football stadiums are half full. Whats the matter with them. El Paso is so behind when it comes to sports.

Riverfront needs some more help with the football field. Wheres the love?

Riverfront already got a lot of funding. Jefferson and Irvin need assistance.

Midland is right, but we just don't have the MONEY in El Paso. It takes money and tax payers here are over-burdoned as is.

No money? Yes there is money. The District just approved every teacher in the Ysleta Independent School District to receive a Laptop computer. The District made a deal with Apple computer worth over 4 million dollars.

Don't be saying there is no money. There's lots of it.

Yeah, but that money is for academic purposes. Apple's deal has nothing to do with high school football. It is about better equipping the teachers to meet the needs of the students in the classroom not on the football field.

Another Witness like some of my uncles have said Education starts with sports not in the classroom and I agree. Sports is what drives a student to achieve. More monies should go towards sports especially football being that it generates the most revenue out of the other hs school sports. Fieldhouses is a start hopefully there is more changes in the near future not 30 years from now.

In high school education and extracurricular such as sports, Band, and JROTC are of equal importance. neither is more important than that other.

A school's purpose is to educate and prepare students for academic success. You can have all the drive to compete and excel in athletics, but none of that will help you to stand a chance academically at the collegiate level. Yes, it helps build character and a sense of teamwork, but it does not help you in the classroom in all cases.

There are numerous kids that just get by to take part in sports. That is why there is such a low graduation rate for college athletes.

They are groomed to excel at sports and get by in the classroom. What happens is either they don't get accepted to college due to low scores or they do get accepted to college and very many drop out after their college athletic career is over and have to head out into the working world at a disadvantage. In my mind academics is most important and everything else is an important important complimentary activity.

Ron Leiman, Director of Athletics and Activities is out.

Why is he leaving or was he fired

I think i heard that he had a serious illness in the family

Dam straight that high school football programs need more support by the districts. Everyone knows that.

If Coach Work gets the Socorro AD job, it just might be what the Doctor ordered.

Jaws you might be right. Coach Work knows the problems within the programs.

I really don't think Coach Work would make a good AD. He was born to coach and that was all.

You wouldn't hire a carpenter to conduct heart surgery on you or your loved one.

You wouldn't hire a fashion designer to work on your car.

*** ATTENTION ***

Someone needs to get mongo a tissue for his issue. His issue being....he's still feeling the pain of being manhandled by Coach Work's teams. :-) Mongo face it, although they didn't go undefeated that best team of recent years that Parkland has had was when my little brother (Melvin Lucas) was the quarterback.

coach work will be great, and maybe he can spark something as an AD that will payoff for the city as a whole. Can't wait to see.

Mongo makes a good point. Coach Work is a great coach and he knows the problems that exist within El Paso hs football programs. The fact remains that it's a whole new different responsibility.

In my opinion Coach Work would make a great AD.

He sure would

Think about thats what you need a ballsy guy who has been in the trenches and knows what football programs need by 1st hand experience. I say give this man a shot. Instead of someone who has never coached the sport right.

Everyone must keep in mind that tax bases in other cities are far larger than here. In small towns like Midland and Odessa and Abilene, most caoches are athletic coordinators for their campus and feeder system, in other one-school districts, the head coach is also the athletic DIRECTOR which is why they make so much more money in comparison to our guys here. The coordinator serves as an auxiliary to the principal for athletics. They still have to work together to bring in coaches, BUT, the head coach is in charge of ALL ATHLETICS or at least boys side athletics (if they have a girls coordinator). All programs operate under the head coaches philosophy, unlike in El Paso where each program is its own kingdom. We must all remember that power sometimes overcome money issues. If you are an ATHELTIC COORDINATOR, and control all hiring of all programs, then you might have the ability to lure some out of town coaches despite the lack of cash.

Fix what has to be fixed and let's get the show on the road.

Easier said then done with EP politics...

Austin high school needs support. They should start there.

Austin are you nuts? Our program is the one that needs the most help.

If high schools are gonna continue to be built in El Paso they should atleast make high schools 11th and 12th only. This should give our local teams somewhat of a fighting chance in the playoffs.

Alex I'm sorry but it won't happen. The districts main priority is to generate revenue.

tru dat

Combining schools will not happen anytime soon or atleast in our lifetime

We deserve to have our own stadium.

Franklin does need their own stadium.

this topic goes well with the salaries topic

TheTruth this topic is a year old. Seriously look at the date that this topic was made. Almost to this day. Time sure flies quickly

I think that EPGRIDIRON has done a great job with their site. Perhaps in the near future they can add to their site a area where one can go to obtain information on where to send letters, dvds, etc. to schools and or coaches this way we can promote oursleves instead of waiting or hoping that someone else does.
There is plenty of small division two and three schools that would love to take area players but are not aware of the talent here.

I emailed EPgridiron last year with almost the same idea as yours and they emailed me back saying they have many ideas but that it all depends on the support they receive from the community. That was last year and being that EPgridiron is still up on the internet today is good enough for me. My cousin is still mad that EPgridiron doesn't have anything on Cathedral.

Out of towner,

There is a problem in the school system. You have indicated that you taught there. You can't spell. You can't write.

Hangit up!

Mass hysteria it's a forum. Noone is trying to type up a best seller here.

Antoher Point!

In the Midland Lee School District in the JUNIOR HIGH the last period of the day is athletics! HMMM One our of Class time, and two hours afetr school. WOW the coaches spend more time teaching the game. My wife's Sister lives there, and her nephew got benched in a T-Ball game for not trying hard enough. Imagine that! Also Coahes here need to build the team concept! Too Many Individuals, Me Me Me. Takes 50 Players to win championships not one!

i have coached in el paso as well as the permian basin. the athletes for the most part in el paso are as good or better than the pb. the overall commitment is much worse. not just by the ad' s who really have their hands tied, but by the parents. i wont mention th school, but at the peak of their success, the parents were more worried about mijo than the success of the program. in the pb if my kid cant start, than by gosh he better work his **** off to be on special teams. in el paso when my kid cant start than we get him ready for hoops. the kids are there, but being tucked in the corner of texas with no immediate competition other than the city itself and selfish parents, it will be a struggle. the money issue is bogus. 3a and 4a schools in el paso county have a higher budget with higher paid staffs than monahans, pecos, bis spring, sweetwater, ft stockton, etc.

I HATE TO SAY THIS I'M NOT TRYING TO OFFEND ANYONE BUT THE HISPANIC CULTURE DOESN'T PUSH THEIR KIDS TO PLAY FOOTBALL AND STICK WITH IT AND ON THE FLIP SIDE THE COACHING AT SOME OF THE SCHOOLS IS HORRIBLE. LNOT ALL STAFFS ARE BAD BUT ALOT ARE. BAD COACHING AND SEMI COMMITTED PLAYERS DOESN'T EQUAL A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP PEOPLE. THIS TOPIC CAN GO UNTIL THE END OF TIME.

Horse man I taught and coach at the baisn for over 10 yrs and I feel there is a stronger talent pool there then in el paso, becuase of the number of schools and the coaching salaries and the committment to the programs by the school district. THE KEY FOCUS ON THE AD AND SCHOOL DISTRICT TO PROVIDED AND SUPPORT YOUR PROGRAMS. AND STOP WORRING ABOUT WHO WINS DISTRICT AND LOOKAT THE BIGGER PICTURE "STATE"

A football program starts inthe 7th grade not varsity. When the players have a sdifferent "sysrem" each year then they have to learn everything at varsity that the rest of the state learns from the 7th grade.Winning in El Paso means you have won nothing.The rest of the atate keeps all the teams from JV to freshman working out as long as they are inthe plauoffs. Most even take them on the trips and suit them out.The head coaches need to be incontrol of their entire program not just varsity, no matter the sport.

In El Paso, money talks. Football programs need the cash flow

More revenue is needed

I agree with everything that has been said on this board I would also like to add this. One of the biggest reasons for success in Midland, Odessa and Abilene schools is offseason workouts. See I know at Lee back in the day even if you played basketball or baseball or golf for that matter you went to football offseason. One reason for this all the other coaches of other sports believes there kids benefited from going thru offseason. The kids became stronger and really developed into a quality athlete when they went thru football offseason. I know it really help me and I played basketball and baseball but I went to football offseason regardless if basketball season was on I went to basketball practice at the end of school. I just think things need to change kids are always thinking about football in those neck of the woods. I think the more kids you have coming out for football makes a difference in your program and hopefully these kids playing other sports besides football will stick with all the sports not have to pick and choose and coaches should let them play all sports.

I also agree with some of you about the feeder program into the schools makes a difference kids are already familiar with the system the high schools are running makes a huge difference kids can develope and understand the system.

There is no doubt that education is the main focus but lets not get this twisted a lot of kids go to school for sports and its up to the parents to renforce academics makes a difference. Does not matter if you can score 20 points a night if you can't pass and do well in school. So coaches have to enforce good academics but they can only do so much while school is in. The school really has to support the student athlets by going to athletic events and really pushing other students to attend events other sports have to support each other it goes hand and hand.

the reason that we dont go deep into the playoffs is that we have to many schools

BA08 that is not true. Did you not read all these post and the others on other threads. Back in the day there were only a hand full of schools in El Paso and El Paso still was not able to go deep into the playoffs. It's not the amount of schools that is the problem.

to many schools-talent is spread out, coaches need more control over entire program(middle schools), more coaches at each level. Sometimes the administration does not give full support to the programs, district is 10 years behind the rest of the states big school programs, money-Money and more MONEY is needed for all athletic programs. I do admit that it is getting better in El Paso, but it will always be an up hill battle.

In the 1970s and 1980s their were not many El Paso high schools and the talent was not to spread out so that is not the problem. It is not the non support of administration as well although they should help out alot more. In my opinion it is the coaching and the players. Freshmen, sophomores and juniors still learning the fundamentals of football is the problem. Players should already know the fundamentals when they reach the 9th grade. Another thing coaches doing both coaching and teaching is also a problem. How can a coach give 100% to the football program when he is already giving a percentage of that in the classroom?

good points, but main thing is let the coaches coach and give them more support. More money in the program and more coaches on the field-middle school and high school

Crown there are thousands of teams throughout the country that receive loads of cash as well as support by their administration and they cannot even reach the playoffs. That is not the problem.

Ray with more money brings in better equipment during the offseason and in season, it brings better scouting programs(software,computers, trips), coaches may travel to more clinics to learn and incorporate into their programs. Teams can travel more to outside areas and compete more with teams they may see in the playoffs. More money devoted to athletics will bring in more coaches to each level 7th-Varsity. More money will do away with only keeping 45 kids at the 7-8 grade levels where some schools have to cut because they do not have enough equipment for those kids(player developement). If administrators, coaches and people in the athletic offices support eachother and work collectively it will get better. Some schools get that support and work collectively well with one another. Money is a great thing and yes it might not be the cure, but it will definately help.

Also Ray even in the 1970s their were 6 high schools in El paso that is a lot compared to other cities that have schools that have split campuses(9-10 grades/11-12 grade), or ones that are built so that it will hold large numbers and wont have to build a new one quickly. Come on Ray you need to do your homework

Changes are currently being made in the EPISD. Changes that will allow football head coaches to get out of the classroom and focus on coaching. Qualified head coaches will become High School Campus Athletic Coordinators of it's chosen school with the responsibility of overseeing all athletics.

Finally the wheels are beginning to turn forward in a postive direction for El Paso high school football. Yes lots more support is needed but this is definitely a move in the right direction.

God Bless you Kenny and God bless EPGridiron.

we are still years behind

bb that is why glight typed
"Yes lots more support is needed but this is definitely a move in the right direction."
DUH!!!!!!!!

I would believe that to be good news for EPISD coaches

Wow...epgridiron.com is very impressive, El Paso has a much better high school web presence when it comes to football...all that is lacking are actual effort, wins to match it. Look, its not rocket science, I am seeing everyone sharing their opinions, criticism and two-cents. You want to hear the not so secret catalyst for successful football? No magic pill here..simply, the system. Period. Ask any plains coach (odessa, midland, abilene). There is a system in place that molds the players. Take a look around Odessa, its not bursting at the seams with money, but people do work hard and expect nothing less than that. Thank you and God bless.

Good post

BACKWARDS THOUGHT PROCESS IS WHAT IT IS.

Districts here in El Paso do not take high school football as serious as the rest of Texas but they sure take the money very serious that the games bring in..

The middle school season is over. In short I asked the coaches at Brown who won both district and the city championship if anyone had called or emailed them from athletics. Answer no. Not even to say good job. EPISD Kenny Owen nor anyone else was even at a game on Thursday.

That goes to you show you how much they care about the future of our student athletes