Okay guys here is what many of us die hard high school football fans have been talking about for many years.

A El Paso high school football team has yet to win a State Championship in like 100 years. My buddies and I tried to come up with a solution. Many came up with the problem instead of a solution. Many were saying that there are way too many schools here in El Paso and more are on the way. Too many schools does depreciate or spread out the talent throughout the city but that is a problem. The goal was to come up with a solution and we did.

SOLUTION:
The city of El Paso must put together 3 high school football teams. First a YISD football team, Second a SISD football team, and third a EPISD football team. Here is how it would function. Each of the the 3 District football teams must play against each other in the scenerio of a Round Robin. After that EACH District football team then plays 4 games against a out of town team no matter if it's someone within the State of Texas or another State.

Advantage: Less High School Coaches, less Stadiums to build, more support from fans because the stands would be filled with fans supporting their District instead of a particular school. More revenue overall for the School Districts because then we would be looking at 8,000 to 10,000 fans in the stands every Friday night.

Oh and ofcourse El Paso would be bringing home a State Championship every season.

That would never happen. That is something I would say if someone said "what would you do to improve EP football if you had absolutly no restrictions".

Something that I think is a little more realistic to improve EP football is paying top dollar for better coaches from Powerhouse schools. The problem there is that these coaches get paid more then the principals of those schools... We dont really have coaches that visit the kids families and get the parents involved in motivating the kids, making them stick to diets, studying plays, etc...

Jaws wouldn't a better scenerio be a private school somthing like they do in Chicago for B-Ball and the school would recruit players from around the city starting from their move to freshmen.

That is completely unrealistic. The education system is in place to educate. Larger school don't perform as well as smaller schools. Studies have shown it. That's why you see the trend toward 4A sized schools. I personally, do not want to trade academic success for football success. El Paso isn't even doing to well meeting academic standards as it is. We would be producing illiterate football players

We would have to build such huge schools with and hire just as many teachers, the land for such big projects would cost a fortune. Some of the people on here really surprise me when they make such statements.

I think elcumex's idea is more realistic, the other is a great fairy tale.

The 5A schools in El Paso are not small. They are actually about average. The only schools which are appreciably bigger are the Plano schools in the 5000-5500 range. The argument that the talent is too spread out because there are too many teams is just wrong.

The difference is SPEED. El Paso teams do not have enough SPEED to compete with the Southlake Carroll's of the world. BTW SLC is about 2200 students. (UIL equalizes for the fact that it is a senior high (11th and 12th grade only). SLC has about 1100 in its senior high so UIL approximately doubles the size to come out with a 4 year school size.

El Paso teams will typically have one or two FAST players and the rest about average. We lived in Houston for three years before El Paso and El Paso teams do not have the OVERALL team speed to compete.

Just my thoughts.

Sorry but I jsut thought of something else.

My son's junior high in Houston had three sevneth grade and three eighth grade teams as did all the other schools in the area. In El Paso we typically have one. (I understand some have a "B" team).

This gives players who may mature later in life a chance to play. Therefore when they mature they are still playing football and can be major contributors rather than being cut here and never playing again.

You misunderstood. No need to build NEW schools the schools in place are just fine. Teams will meet at some field and practice. Time and scheduling of practice can all be figured out.

It's unrealistic, you are just misunderstanding the idea the solution as me and my drunken buddies came up with.

Example YISD Team:
10 players from Hanks
10 players from Riverside
10 players from Parkland
10 players from Eastwood
10 players from Del Valle
10 players from Bel Air

Team will meet to practice somewhere midpoint from their schools from where central to accomodate distance for each school.

All the other players who did not make Varsity will play JV with the system that's currently in place. If you do good in varsity and standout you might make the varsity team. Varsity will be a special team, a goal for athletes to try to achieve. Players in these teams must have a great standing in academics in order to be in this varsity team.

It would work, too bad for all those Coaches who will be without jobs.

Check this link out
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/special_packages/high_school_football_preview/15292305.htm

and this one
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/special_packages/high_school_football_preview/15292275.htm

here's another
http://www.progressiveu.org/220050-merging-of-2-opposite-high-schools

The thing is that a lot of schools have only two grades ini them. So they have the same population as our schools but only with juniors and seniors. For example Southlake Carrol has two high schools. SLC high and SLC Senior High. If you put the two together they have around 4-5 thousand kids.

This is a very interesting one
http://archive.recordonline.com/archive/2005/01/11/joint11.htm

jaws is completely correct with his first idea... yes it is a little hard to break up the teams, because most teams have more than 10 players that are great... this solution help big time, and could actually work... for example... look at midland... it is broken up into 2 highschools, and every year either midland high or midland lee has a playoff winning team... yes we do need top dollar coaches, better facilities for the kids... i dont think the work ethic is lacking at all, because el paso athletes bust their ass just to get as far as they do... this idea should be written up, taken into effect, and i think the city of el paso will see a much better improvement in the competitiveness between the rest of texas...!

Another Witness

It's not dream baby, these squads right here are ranked in the top 25 in the nation and they recruit players and offer scholarships every single one. LeBron James was recruited and played at aprivate school. If we had a school doing that here which is totally possible then we could bring home the bacon. El Paso has to stop living the dark ages and step up to the 20th century atleast.

(11) St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City, N.J.) 12-0
Tuition is $7,375. The student activity fee is $675. New students pay a non-refundable registration fee of $400.
http://www.stpetersprep.org/admissions.html


(12) St. Xavier (Cincinnati, Ohio) 15-0
Tuition for the 2006 - 2007 academic year is $9,475.00
http://www.stxavier.org/stxavier.aspx?pgID=647


(17) Central Catholic (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 10-2
Tuition for the 2006-2007 school year is $6,700 for students who are members of a Catholic parish. Tuition for students who are not members of a Catholic parish is $7,500. Tuition may be paid in ten monthly payments.
http://www.pittcentralcatholic.org/admissions.html


(18) Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.) 11-1
Tuition for the 2006-2007 school year is $8,800 plus maybe another $1500 in fees
http://www.donboscoprep.com/downloads/074481A63CD049E7A7BA065FD4080170/Don%20Bosco%20Prep%202006%20Brochure.pdf

i dont people are right it is unrealtic i think what we need to do is get the whole city into it tell them to vote i mean if we did put 2 teams togethougher it would be alot better for example remember the titans they had alot of problems but they put their egos aside and played the game of football

Here is one more,and let me clear up one thing, the way this works is that these guys go out and get the kid they want out of the inner city or off the farm then teach them to pass the entrance exam and they can qualify fo the scholarship based n academics. Iactually think that it can be good for some kid who can get it(good education) the problem is that most won't and then they are reduced to nothing.


6) St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) 12-1
http://www.sehs.net/admissions.htm

El Paso city reps and District reps use the excuse that it will affect Education. That is not so. Academics will increase because students will want to join, participate or get involved in varsity sports in this case football. It's not far fetched it is possible, it's having the balls (excuse my language) to do it for the betterment of the community especially our youths.

3 Districts will become 3 Teams. Only the best student athletes in talent and academics will make the team. Other players who don't make the team due to lack of talent or grades will not make the team that is too bad. It hurts but it's the way it ought to be. Not all high school football players go Division I or II or III, some high school football players don't continue football after high school.

So why not make high school like college. Recruiting wise. 3 Districts will become 3 Teams District Coaches will draft, recruit the best talent within their District ofcourse with tryouts, and evaluating their grades.

Imagine this top notch talented athletes with grade academic standings on all 3 Districts, wow that would bring many College Recruiters to El Paso.

jaws think about not only will it be alot of money but like u said only the best will make it well the rest of people that play sports are not going to care about their acdemics and that means that alot of people well have low acdemics and what are we going to do with the rest of the high skool leave them there to look pretty

By the way if some disagrees with some ones thought then as Jaws stated "The goal is to come up with a solution and we did." So offer one.

dv football all the way there is JV football or sports as I mentioned. Those that do not make the varsity team will have the opportunity to play JV football or any JV sport. If his talented gets better as well as academics the varisty coach might recruit him up to varsity. Earn it man


Only cause a football player or his parents want him to play varsity because he is a junior don't mean anything. You got to earn it. Discipline on a serious not. Responsiblity on a serious note. Increase your talent to a higher level as well as your grades then you Earned it.

And more thing.

Students today struggle to get A's and B's in their courses. A El Paso high school football team has yet to get to the Semifinals in what 100 years. The City, the Districts have done it their way for many, many, many years and yes grades have improved a bit but not a lot considering it's been what 100 years. It's time for change and always remember that with change comes pain, but as we all say no pain no gain. If players do not make the varsity team because he is not talented enough well that is just too bad go down to JV to increase your abilities.

It's a competitive world and it's time to teach the youths what really lies ahead in their future.

D-Bloc

I live near Warren, Ohio. The reason it works in Ohio is because Private schools and Public schools play each other for the same championship. They don't separate the the parochial and public schools like in Texas.

Another thing about parochial schools like St. Edwards Eagles, St. Xavier and St.Ignatius; they are not suppose to recruit, but it does happen. They will have to forfeit all their games in which they violate the rules that all school abide by.

A private school does not guarantee wins St. Edwards lost to Warren G. Harding (public) 7 - 3 at The Mistake on the Lake.

What El Paso needs is better coaching teams like up here in Warren. Warren has 11 coaches and 3 fitness instructors. The Raiders also have around 15 college players starting in div. 1-A. Five will make it in the NFL.

I believe this is a good idea. But there is ONE flaw that you have seemed to over look...

Where exactly would these "superteams" fall into UIL's population Category. Technically, the EPISD team would have what, 20,000 students to choose from? YISD = 15,000 and SISD 10,000. There is no way that UIL would allow this to happen. And if we were to do it, the only way i can see them allowing it is if UIL made it to where DFW, San Antonio, Houston, etc. would be allowed to do the same. Then we'd be back to square one.

One simple reason this plan is completely off the table: UIL would not permit it. The rules are clear.

that just sums up my last post GRA...

The UIL rules are geared to give El Paso a disadvantage. Open your eyes my little friends.

Then we'd be back to square one you say?
No we will be on the same page.

Again in what 100 years what has El Paso accomplished? How many Doctors, Lawyers, Inventors, etc... and those that have become successful how many stay to pursue their careers here in El Paso. Stop think about, it's been what 100 years.

take the lid off your eyes boys and join me into the new El Paso. The UIL is full of it. They can allow only El Paso, being that we are at a disadvantage of having not so smart people on the school board and city counsel in continue to build schools. UIL will favor this plan when they really see the problem at hand, and they will also take into consideration the distance from El Paso to the Metroplex.

There are many of you that have said: A 5-5 Metroplex Team can beat a 10-0 El Paso team easy. Southlake Carrolls backup quarterback or any quarterback in the Metroplex can be a starting quarterback here in El Paso easy and probably break many records.

So if this plan was to take shape (nothing wrong with dreaming and hoping that the Powers the Be will see it) El Paso Coaches will have 20,000 plus students to choose from which is equal to 4,000 great students that Southlake Carroll or any other Metroplex has.

How many top football teams in El Paso have falling in Bidistrict. El Paso teams with undefeated records playing out of town team with barely .500 record? There is a large disadvantage between EL Paso and the Metroplex, very large. So 20,000 to 4,000 is no big difference when you see the facts over what 100 years.

You guys sure bend over backwards for the UIL. It takes people to make changes.

Common persons just sit back and let the Powers that Be do what they want to do. Change comes from the people especially big changes. Balls man

JAWS

You are wrong about a 5-5 Metroplex team easily beating a 10-0 El PAso team. Franklin beat Mansfield Summit just last year. As I said earlier, it all comes down to overall team speed.

For EP to win state we need to be like Odessa Permian back in the day... "Perfect", we need stronger coaches that require bigger paychecks...

clumex could be that coach and takes to the State game he knows what it takes to get there and all he neeeds is the opportunity. GOOOOOOOOOOO clumex

Permian wasnt the biggest or the fastest but they were fast, had a lot of heart and had great leadership from their coaches... I remember when I was at Franklin and we compared our weight room stats to that of Permian's. We were a lot bigger and stronger. Not quite as fast though but close...

Carroll's current student population is approximately 2400. There is only 1 high school in the Carroll school district, but the 1 high school has TWO campuses. One campus is known as the "high school" and houses about 1200 9th and 10th graders. The other school is known as the "senior high" and houses about 1200 11th and 12th graders.

D-Bloc,

I was not referring to your idea, but Jaws' idea. I don't think city reps will use academics as an excuse, but a reason. Studies have shown that smaller schools do better. The only larger schools that perform well are those in affluent suburban towns.

The reason Midland only has 2 schools is because they are so much smaller than El Paso. They are about 1/8 the size of El Paso. Believe me, if they start to grow, they are not going to only have 2 high schools.

I used to live in the Metroplex and I can tell you that the high schools in the bit metropolitan area have nothing on our schools. It's the suburban schools in the DFW area that are "the big ones." And by suburban I mean rich. And by rich, I mean able to pay the big bucks to their teacher and and their coaches. These are also the scools serving kids with parents that can afford private training and other complementary services.

That's what wins championships. Don't blame the UIL for this. Their rules apply to El Paso just they apply to Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

I don't have the answer to this, but when was the last time an urban school won a football state championship in Texas. That's a good way to gauge. And by urban I mean high schools within the city limits of a city with more than 500,000 people.

Here is a Solution........why dont you jus work your butts off during the offseason.......its not that hard.....all of you teams that are out of the playoffs.......your offseason starts NOW!!!!!!!! Im tired of all this nonsense about merging schools........run and hit the weight room......if we can make it to the 3rd round.......we can make it to state!!!!!!!!

JAWS, that is the most retarded, unrealistic, solution i have ever heard. seriously...
there is no way many of us die hard football fans have been talking about that. for any years. the only solution would be fewer schools, with higher attendance, or splitting the schools into junior high and high schools. something that other cities do you know.
and how about a higher salary for the coaches, along with less classes.

seriously, retarded...

The things people come up with under the influence of alcohol.

ep fb fan #1 you're the retarded one son. Your solution is truly unrealistic. All of you are saying what we all have been hearing for over 20 years. Same song and dance and you know what nothing happens. Your 7 to 8 year old kids will be saying the same crap you will be saying 10 years from.

Most of you only state the problem but cannot come up with an idea.

This less schools and higher paid coaches is stewped. Where's the solution you so called know it all football experts.

Yeah why not try it at Bowie. Pay that coach there 80,000 a year and to only coach see how far he will take Bowie in the Playoffs or if they even get there

I am very happy that you came up with a solution, but just as it is in the business world, not every solution is a good one... or even feasible.

I don't think I saw anywhere in this thread, anyone referring to themselves as experts. They are just regular people like you. They are just telling you what they think.

I wish I had a solution, but I don't. If anyone had a good solution I am sure it would be in effect by now. I will not, however, throw out unrealistic solutions for the sake of giving one.

They are just regular people like you

What do you mean by regular people? What is a regular person? Please explain Another Witness

D-Bloc


St. Xavier Bombers (Parochial) lost to Cin.Colerain Cards.(public)28-14. Private schools don't guarantee wins.

A better solution is to ask the Board of Education for more budget money and for better coaches to spend it wisely on the team.

I have to agree with football fan. There needs to be strong(er) offseason programs that are designed to keep the players in shape.

Why can't students from UTEP's kiniesiology department be made to volunteer time, as part of their curiculum, to design and oversee workouts for these young athletes.

El Paso is just as unique as any other city. In fact, I believe it is better than most cities. The way we do it here or how they do it there is irrelivent. If it is so much greater there... I ask you why do you stay here and why do you choose to come back here?

El Paso is just as unique as any other city

That's true

size is not the issue here

SLC has at most 2400 students in grades 9-12
Lufkin has like 2600 students in grades 9-12
Katy has less than 3000 students
Smithson Valley has 2600 or so

Im not sure where you guys get the 4000-5000 students numbers

Plano, Plano East, Plano West, La Joya, Skyline, Westfield and North Shore are the only schools in the state with VERY large enrollments.

Katy ISD keeps building schools, and their 'flagship' school, keeps winning games and going to state finals.

okay so then it's the coaches here in El Paso

Correction:

Southlake Carroll has two high schools. One that is for freshmen and sophomores only and one for juniors and seniors. Combined, their population is about 3,700 students.

By regular people, I mean not EXPERTS. Maybe regular was not the best word, but if you couldn't figure that out within the context of my entry, then you might have some other issues to deal with.

Before all the blame is put onto the coaches of El Paso for not winning state championships, consider that John Parchman was the head coach at Socorro High School before he won three state championships at Midland Lee. Was he incapable of winning state championships as a coach, or was he incapable of winning state championships as a coach of Socorro High School. There are many excellent head coaches here in El Paso (ie. Darren Walker, Scott Brooks, Grijalva, etc...). Putting all the blame on the coaching is idiotic.
The fact that so many fans are now looking for state titles is definately a step in the right direction. Once that expectation is embedded into the players, coaches, parents, and administration, then El Paso will find itself with teams playing in December on a regular basis. However, singling out one group from the aforementioned list isn't helping. To win state titles, it must be the efforts and dedication of the players, coaches, parents, and administration.
P.S. Go Huskies, Eagles, and Matadors. Good luck.

Actually SLC has 651 Juniors and 573 seniors. Assuming a dropout rate of 10 percent a year (probably high for a wealthy sububrban district) there would be about 720 sophomores and 800 freshman for about 2700 students total.

I think the 2400number is probably more accurate - it certainly isn't 3700. The resources they have are phenomenal. Better even than Permian which just built a 1.5 million dollar indoor practice facility (I think it was Permian not SLC). The boosters for Permian built paid for the practice facility.

That is a far cry from the boosters in EP. I think if we added all the schools together we wouldn't raise half that. I remember a few years ago going to a game in Las Cruces and they announced that the golf tournament they had made $100,000. Franklin's that same year made about $6,000 I think.

Not Only did John Parchmen win a state title but Won the USA National Championship. But remenber he was a socorro and would be considered an El Paso Coach with a 5.00 record. So late say that more "El Paso Coaches need to get out of El Paso to be successful". If more EP coaches ventured out of these town to schools where Fb is important and the blame doesn't begin with the coach but Ad's and School Administration. These coaches would be winning state titles. Oh yeah carson was at socorro to and he's team segial is still in the play off's and Carl Klan he was at hanks he's team won thier district in SA and is still in the playoff's. So what if more coaches left else where and where successful, then what is the problem.

I have to put the blame on both the COACHES and the BOARD OF EDUCATION.

The coaches for not speaking more in public about it.

The board for not giving more tools for the coaches to work with. MONEY

Unfortunately coaches get out of El Paso and find school systems that give them the tools to work with.

1. stadium
2. better equipment to scout other teams
3. weight rooms
etc.

thne more coaches need to get out of el paso , cuase the one wh speak out are not treated well and burn bridges, How about the AD's that is their Job.

Many great points are being made here

Stop making kids play soccer and put them in pee wee football. Darn mothers are too scared that their kids will get hurt. You know that Latin mothers smother their little boys. haha! Just being funny people, no offense...

Solution: It would take commitment from a number of parents and is probably not realistic.

Starting in 7th grade - identify outstanding players at every position. Then the families of those players pick the best school - from a quality of education and economic school - and move into that school zone. If all of the best players from all of the feeder schools - moved into one school's area El Paso would get a state championship beacuse they would have all of the best players.

Just Think. All of the players from the 46-player East and West All-Star Teams for the 15th Annual Senior All-Star Classic football game on the same team.....

Heres a solution, everyone continues to get better and better at there games. Ya know, El Paso schools aren't the only schools in Texas that dont have a state championship. We just need to keep improving and its getting better. With teams going deep into the playoffs every year its only a small amount of time till we knock the door down. But i what i think really seperates us from other teams is SPEED.

it's all about coaching

andress is the only team in el paso that has the size and speed year in and year out to compete with the best teams in west tx. only once in a great while is there a team that can compete with all of texas.when that team comes it has to play perfect football and can't blow the opportunity. if andress had a little discipline it probably would have reached the state semifinals at least once by now!

Why not have El Paso teams allowed 12 players on the field, while out of city teams only get 11. El Paso 12th man advantage!

It is simple, there just isn't a team within El Paso with enough TEAM SPEED to go out and compete with the other Texas schools. It is not enough to have 2 or 3 fast guys on a team, which is usually the case in El Paso.

Team speed or size. lolod is an idiot.

lack of overall speed is the main reason. size and depth as well. teams that win state championships have depth. there is not a significant drop in talent when a player goes down and a replacement comes in. no ep team has that type of depth.

I agree with that. Big schools in the Metroplex usually have a starting rotation of O and D lines. Playing both offense and defense(ironman) is the rare exception. Teams dress out up to a hundred players or more on varsity so they can absorb the injuries that occur during a season without missing a beat.

I totally agree with Outtatowner

the solution for El Paso to Win State Championships is for the players to have a great offseason program. Leave the girlies and booz alone. Work on speed and increase your muscle weight everyday.

true players should e more focused on football. lets look at teams that r at state. there school range is bout 3 times the sizes of one school area. so in an area would be combining chapinm, parkland, andress, irvin intoone school. u cant do that now sosolution is for players to live football. people in other states usually achive more cause they want to leave the area they r in so if u get players to work andplay like there was nop tomarrow we would have statechampions

it's the mentality of our teams. in the past few years that mentality has improved. i remember that before el paso teams were looking for solutions to beat teams from the panhandle now they are looking for solutions for the state title. i say it's just a matter of time.

i agree its only a matter of time till something big really happens here in EP. 1 school with a senior and junior class will take there team to state. then... who knows...

Need to get our heads out of the gutter and start competiting with the rest of the state. Who cares about the circumstances. Permian did it so can an El Paso team.

Quit making excuses were too small then use technique were to slow then run your a** , their too strong well then lift till you cant ,

Beautiful Pacman. Determination.

this is not a bad idea it jst cant be done, sure if we merge the schools would match other schools like slc but you got what 3 districs. you can seperate them by that cause parkland is in the NE while the rest of thier distric is on the eastside. and people at el paso really dont have enough money to hand to "great" coaches. so unless your bill gates in disguise we wont be able to do it, just have to stick to hard work.

OUR ATHLETES HERE IN EL PASO ON A ONE-TO-ONE BASIS COMPARISON TO OTHERS AROUND THE STATE ARE JUST AS TALENTED IF NOT MORE SO. JUST TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION ALL OF OUR STATE CHAMPIONS/RUNNER-UPS THAT WE PRODUCE ON A YEARLY BASIS IN INDIVIDUAL SPORTS, IE... WRESTLING, TRACK, CROSS COUNTRY, TENNIS, GOLF, ETC... FACE IT, WE JUST DON'T KNOW HOW TO HELP EACH OTHER AND WORK LIKE A TEAM HERE. WHEN SOMEONE STARTS DOING WELL WE WASTE MORE TIME TRYING TO BRING THEM DOWN RATHER THAN PUTTING OUR COLLECTIVE EFFORTS TOGETHER AND PUSHING THEM TO THE NEXT LEVEL. "TYPICAL MEXICANS" (FOR THE RECORD I'M MEXICAN, BUT TRYING HARD TO CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING) LET'S ALL WORK TOGETHER AND BRING A FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TO EP REGARDLESS OF WHO IT MAY BE. MAKE EP PROUD.

I totally agree. I had stated before on this board. The mentality of people here in El Paso are either

A. jealous of others
B. evny of others
C. greedy
D. the big mother of them all, unsupportive of others away from their own circle of friends, family and their team.

Most everyone here in El Paso only watch their own, only care about their own and that's it. When this mentality changes throughout things will get better here in El Paso and that includes sports. We might even sell out the Sun Bowl even if Utep begins the season at 0-4. Kidding aside. It's a problem that comes with living by the Border.

Too many El Pasoans drinking hatorade.

ARGEE you got it totally straight! my hat's off to you. come'on ep let's do it together.

I agree with several comments before mine. El Paso is lacking in the off season work and speed and size are lacking too!!! Maybe steroid testing might even things out for us here in El Paso?? AS long as they don't test for frijoles.....then we will be okay!!! The big kids here in El Paso are just that BIG. They are NOT atheletically inclined! You go to the valley or to east Texas, and you will see that their BIG kids are physically fit!! Those are atheletes!! Those kids are raised to be football players. Our kids are big because they eat a lot and do nothing with their God given size!!! It's sad to see a 6'4" 290lb. kid that can't even run or move. Those kids need to be groomed at an early age to be atheletes!! Once we get that mind set, then we might begin to compete outside of the El Paso area!!! Our culture does not allow for "mejo" to do anything positive with what talents he might have!!! Go outside of El Paso and you will see that the kids are living for football!!! Their lives revolve around academics and sports!!! Growing up in Odessa, I know what it is to eat and sleep football!! I just don't see that passion here in El Paso. Well, maybe on this website, but not with our familes and "football players"!!!

iknowfootball that was well said

Thanks brother....don't get me wrong...I do support ALL El Paso football!!! I am out at EVERY Chapin game come rain, snow, or sleet!! I have gone to every game since the scool opened. I started going to their games only because I wanted to be out in the city watching HS football. I have seen a lot here locally, but I have not been impressed. I was impressed with WF Rider in San Angelo last season as they beat our beloved Huskies!! That was a GOOD HS football TEAM!! The big kids were fast and the smaller kids were super fast!!! Those kids were raised to play!!!

I was at the Chapin and Rider game as well. In my opinion the diffence between the two was that Rider had like 3 David Moores on their team compared our one David Moore. If we would have had 2 more David Moores we would have won. Oh well the past is the past. Good luck to our Huskies this year.

I agree!!! Even with one and a half more D. Moores, we could have taken them. Their speed was unreal!! The interior line was as fast as their cornerbacks only bigger!!! That is waht we are missing here in El Paso. Until we develope our kids into academic and atheletic phenoms, we will always be lagging behind the WF Riders, La Marques, and Aledos!! Good luck to ALL El Paso teams this year....

keep dreaming bub.

The only logical solution is to start grooming the young players early in their life. Have all the big middle schools start implementing the high school's playbook into theirs so that way when those kids get to high school they are already a step ahead. Of course its gonna take a better off season, money, recruiting etc but if the kids are used to the high schools' playbook before they even get in it'll help a hell of a lot more.

FHS '07 I totally agree with you. Freshmen, JV and Varsity coaches shouldn't be teaching fundamentals. These players once they reach 9th grade should already have all the fundamentals down pat. Something has to be done about this because this has gone on for way too long. Over 60 years and no State title much less past the 3 round of the playoffs. Something definitely wrong with this picture.

This is as stupid as all the excuses that have been made for El Paso having less that stellar football programs. If El Paso can combine their schools in each district so could all the other districts in Texas. What is needed is control of the football program by a good Head coach from varsity down to middle school. The younger the athlete the more fundalmentals are needed. This is not being done.

All good points but missing a key ingredient.

Support from the District Administration.

Translation: MONEY

El Paso must be willing to invest in the programs. They need coaches, training facilities, equipment, and other incentives to bring kids into the program.

You really have to look at smaller districts for examples (which is a setback for El Paso) like Odessa and Midland, whose community DEMANDS that athletic programs be State Championship caliber.

That isn't to say that the districts fund everything, schools have to go out into the community for sponsorship and investments.

Getting long winded, have to take a break, more to come.

Having lived and gone to school in Houston and knowing the what a real 5A team looks like there is only one way for an El Paso team to win State!

Size Size Size / Speed / and Coaching Philosophy

You'll never win state with a 5'6 Quaterback !

You'll never win state with 5'10" Lineman!

You'll never win State with 5'8 Receivers!

And you'll never win State with a roll out Quaterback who can't sit in the Pocket see over his line and chuck 50 Yard bombs to 6'3 speedy receivers! Period!

Your only chance is when the 20,000 German monsters move into El Paso in the next three years. You must have Diversity to win! (Intelligent Quaterback / Speedy Backs / Tall Fast Receivers / and coaches who worry about execution more than they do favortism and loyalty to their race) One day El Paso will realize that Size matters, it sucks but it does. The Game has become a game of Giants, so start working with those 6'4/6'5 guys who the coaches let roam the halls instead of draggin them to the Football field.

It may sting a little but it's the truth. How many Basketball / Baseball / Volleyball State Champs do we have also? Food for Thought!

That makes a lot of sense. When I was in high school my freshman year coach Reveles at Franklin called to me in the hallway and convinced me to play ball. I had played the year before at a different school but didn't sign up in time for football at Franklin. I was 6'2" 235 lbs as a freshman.

My point is that at Franklin the coaches do/did that.

I watched a few practices out at El Dorado and saw 6'4 and 6'3 kids standing on the sidleines because players said they were too timid. Guess why? They are told all of their lives not to hurt people smaller! It is the coaches job to teach them/Drill them/Train them (Technique/Technique/Technique)My son played on 11 year teams in Virginia who can beat the Middle School teams here handily. Coaches teach, Players play. Just because you show them a play doesn't mean they can execute it. And whatever happened to a play book someone please ask El Dorado, how can I study one if I don't have one?

I can vouch for Outsider. I have a cousin who attends El Dorado. He's a junior right now. He's 6'2' and weighs about 225lbs. I asked him one time at a family get together, why don't you join football? His answer was, I DON'T KNOW. I then asked his father as to why his son does not join football? His fathers answer was, his mother doesn't want him to get hurt. I was like, WTF???

haha! That is funny but and it really happens. I didn't get to join peewee football for that reason. It wasn't until I moved in with my father that I was allowed to play sports.

Well everyone, newbie here to the forum, but no stranger to 915 high school football. I myself played for Austin 1998-2001 and have always wondered since then why we (el paso schools) get eliminated in the first few rounds of the state playoffs. Could it be our size??? Maybe our schemes??? Who knows....

But one thing i do know is that we are missing the strength gains and training that is needed to continue the playoff runs...

What i mean is that in El Paso compared to the other places in Texas.....we do not have solid Strength and Conditioning programs that are desperately needed. I have had the privilege of getting my bachelors in kinesiology at UTEP and have worked under Kirk Davis the head S&C coach at UTEP and have learned a lot>

El Paso needs to hire S&C coaches that first off know what they're doing and secondly, have the desire to train these young men and prepare them physically for the stresses of the season.

S&C programs are vital in out success. Granted some coaches have a workout regimen during the off season, but a well knowledge coach is needed during the season as well.

first off, our middle school football programs are a joke. the kids practice a week in shorts. then they strap the pads on for a week and their first game or scrimmage takes place that saturday. what the hell is that! as soon as football is over the same thing happens with basketball and so on. so there is no time to teach fundamentals, they have to learn plays on the fly.

You are right on the money, did you know that Soccorro School district rules are more strict than the UIL rules. In Midland the kids last period of the day is athletics. we will never get ahead.

That's where most of the problem is occurring, at the middle school level. Explains why high school coaches have to teach players fundamentals.

Schools want students to excel in all they do. Why would they prevent them or limit them from excelling in athletics? Athletics provides opportunities for leadership, develops self discipline and sacrifice, encourages good sportsmanship and promotes loyalty to the school as well as many other things.

It's never going to change for El Paso. We are gonna have the city grow, and that means more high schools and less money for each school. the only way we can catch up is starting with the kids young with the plays the high schools use and teaching fundamentals. We need to also make more districts. But i don't think any of this is going to happen for a while.

Realignment is changes next year. Some El Paso high schools will have to merge. Meaning one school pure 9th and 10th graders and the high school pure 11th and 12th graders.

Do you have any idea who is going to merge yet?

Franklin and Hornedo. Franklin will house 10-12 grades and Hornedo will be the all Freshman school. Both considered Frankin high School.

odessa permian is a school with 5,000 students! those are the 5a schools over there. here in el paso if you have 2500, the district wants to open another one! imagine if you still had coronado as the only school in the westside! coronado was close to win state in the 70's but got out of the playoffs because they TIED permian. two weeks later permian won state. so you had an option there if chs and fhs were still only 1 school of 5000 students that could be a good contender, definetly

I think everyone here is on the right track. Schools like Permian concentrate on football first and all other sports are secondary. Those kids start playing at a very early age and never stop playing until they finish high school or go on to play college ball. Those kids are raised to play footbball. Football is a way of life over there. The whole community revolves around the high school football team. I grew up in the Odessa area. I guess that it is why I am still a die hard high school football fan. It was instilled in me at such a young age....I will always have that respect for the game!

Permian actually has 4,000. Abilene High has 2,400 and would be about in the middle of the pack size-wise in EP. Southlake Carroll has 2,400, Euless Trinity has 2,700, Midland Lee 2,800, Abilene Cooper 1,900, Lubbock Monterrey 2,200, Lubbock Cornado 2,200 and Amarillo Tascosa 2,100. Franklin, Americas and Socorro all have 2,900. They are the three largest in EP. Sure Permian has a large student body but Carroll and Trinity have done pretty dang good with their smaller numbers. El Paso's woes go far beyond numbers. It is attitude (those guys expect to win when they play EP teams, EP teams normally don't), work ethic, passion, motivation, conditioning and to a certain extent coaching that gives them the edge over EP. I've watched a whole lot of football in EP and as far east as Dallas. I've watched how guys outside of EP work during the off-season and how they work at practice once it starts. It is night and day, trust me. You ask a kid at Permian or those others "you gonna win Friday" and they might knock your head off. You ask a kid in EP that question and he's likely to say "I sure hope so."
Heres another thing, when a school over here graduates 44 seniors, well the next year they do the same thing. A whole bunch of those new seniors were JVers as juniors...they get more reps instead of standing around on the sidelines as back-ups. And since alot of teams do that the comp they get as JVers ain't too shabby.
I honestly think you could check back in 30 years and EP would still be playing second fiddle to the rest of Region-1.

you are just hating now. euless and southlake are private schools so numbers dont matter in those schools since they recruit their players.

Well said oldEPguy!! I totally agree!! If you watched the Pflugerville/Leander game on Fox last night, you saw a totally different kind of game and a different caliber of athelete. Those kids look stonger faster and more "into" the game. It looked almost like a college game!!! It was obvious that there were many D-1 players running all over the field. It's just a different caliber of play and athelete. It would be great to see that here in El Paso!!

No Offense but what all of those other Schools have is Diversity. They have a range of Players in the Ht/Wt/Size/Speed arena. This hurts El Paso, I mean I feel at home here because I am 5'8 and I feel comfortable. When I leave here I feel short again, my Sons 7th Grade Basketball Team in VA averaged 6'1 and the tall ones in High School were 6'3 and up from Guard to Center. As El Paso grows and we have many Races, coming together to form teams, you will see a difference. Welcome these 20,000 Soldiers, because they will help to put El Paso on the Map! The majority of the Hispanic community averages 5'8/5'9 and this hurts El paso, becasue you play the level of the number of kids you have in the School, not the number of solid athletes. Be Patient it will come! Also some of these El Paso athletes that make it big time need to give back to the community and to the programs, that makes a huge difference!

Everyone has made good points. Granted you cannot coach height, weight etc. But, you can train the kids to to play their position to the best of their ability. I personally have seen the heart in these kids when they play. I also see that we have a lot of old school coaches that don't understand how to physically prepare a team. Or, they will have knowledgeable assistant coaches on staff, and will not let them train them properly because the head coach needs full control of what goes on.

With improved discipline on and off the field along with a properly structured offseason, preseason, inseason, and post season training schedule, our teams could compete at the championship level. I don't mean to be rude, but this will probably not happend until these old school coached retire, and these young coaches with degrees in kinesiology take over.

Case in point, I have heard that one school here in el paso has two nationally certified strength and conditioning coaches or one is a doctor or something. And that team can't compete in town??? Old school principles need to catch up with the science of today!!!

the solution is get some school board members that care about athletics, as well as education. spend money on the athletic departments at each school. and finally hire coaches that really want to win state, not just here in ep

.,
Not hating, stating facts. By the way, SLC and Trinity are not private schools. I believe the only private school playing in UIL is Jesuit Strake. There may be one other. Privates play in TAPPs or one of the other organizations set up to oversee private programs.
Carroll is the only h/s in the town of Southlake. Euless Trinity is in Euless near DFW airport.
Regarding diversity, SLC is mainly all white, they do have a few black players (Tre Newton, Nate's kid). Trinity is heavily black and Tongan. Maybe EP needs to import some Tongans, Somoans, Hawaiians...those guys play with passion and they come in very large sizes.
Permian is very white but does have some brothers. Abilene is mainly white. Austin Westlake, Smithson Valley, Judson Converse, Katy et al have all had nice runs and are all mostly white. Diversity is great but not a requirement for success. Those programs all have good coaching, great work ethics, passion and desire to win. They are willing to put the work in to get better 365 days out of the year.

The Schools you mentioned are of course mostly white, and play mostly white teams, however they do get a lot of their speed from other races. Odessa Permian has a lot of hispanics as well as some of the Midland Teams. I guess what I am saying is that if you have Diversity, your team is balanced with many different talents. Look at Chapin / Andres / Franklin / Montwood!!! Diversity. They have great coaching but they get the diverse talent that creates a formula for success!!

These are the 4A schools that El Paso teams need to start looking at! What are they doing differently to make them such good teams? Are El Paso's best going to compete with these guys once they win district? Have they even thought about this? A lot of these teams play each other in the regular season. They are getting stronger throughout the regular season, so by the time they play El Paso teams, they are so far advanced that El paso teams don't stand a chance against them! El Paso teams are so caught up in winning here locally that they are not prepared for these teams in the playoffs! Our kids need to go play these guys early in the season so that they are prepared when it comes time to butt heads with them in the playoffs! Show them that we are not scared of them and that we want to compete with them!!

Class 4A Top 25 Rankings 10-05-07

Rank School

1 Copperas Cove (5-0)
2 Stephenville (4-0)
3 La Marque (5-0)
4 Waco (4-1)
5 WF Rider (4-1)
6 CC Calallen (5-0)
7 d. Gregory-Portland
8 Brownwood (4-0)
9 New Braunfels (4-0)
10 Aledo (3-1)
11 Friendswood (5-0)
12 Everman (4-0)
13 Nederland (4-0)
14 Lake Travis (3-1)
15 Beeville Jones (4-1)
16 Waxahachie (4-1)
17 Kerrville Tivy (4-0)
18 Dickinson (5-0)
19 Keller Fossil Ridge (4-1)
20 El Campo (4-0)
21 Denton Ryan (3-1)
22 Lamar Consolidated (3-2)
23 SA Alamo Heights (4-1)
24 Schertz Clemens (3-1)
25 Marshall (3-1)

Dropped Out: Whitehouse, Corsicana, Frenship

for that to happen, those teams would have to agree to play el paso teams in preseason. there's no reason they would want to play ep teams because there are alot tougher opponents they could schedule that make them better. plus, way out here in west texas, scheduling teams from other areas is difficult because of travel expenses and arrangements. if such a game were scheduled, either ep team or out-of-town team would have to travel a long ways & there's no reason east texas teams would want to do that if they can face better competition closer to home.
el paso teams first must make some serious noise in the postseason (which is starting to happen a little) to convince east texas teams that we are worth scheduling in the preseason, otherwise we'll just be stuck in this vicious cycle of having weak preseason schedules that do not prepare us every year. some 5a teams like montwood and coronado have been able to schedule good preseason games in recent years, but things are still not at the level of east texas preseason schedules.

You are totally right MausDE!!! Those teams out there do try to "pad" their schedule and they are "thinking outside of the box"!! Our teams here in El Paso do a great job of "padding their schedule", and "staying in the box". They should attempt to venture outside of El Paso and take their bumps and bruises for a bit. The experience that they will gain will be valuable. After a few years, El Paso could start to put it's name on the map in high school football. We need to challenge those teams that have made a name for themselves. Who knows, we might wins some games?? El Paso 5A has started to do this, and look at the improvements that they have made. There are handful of teams that have played teams like Permian and Midland, and now look at those teams. They are the powerhouses here in El Paso!!! The only point I disagree with you on is the traveling or distance. Many of the teams around the state will travel up to 6 or 8 hours to play a quality team in the preseason!! Euless Trinity traveled to Odessa to play Permian a couple of weeks ago. That was a 6 hour drive for them!!! I grew up in central Texas, and a 4 hour drive every Friday night for our team was normal!! We had to go out and play where the competition was tough. It made us a better team!! I hope to see at least one El Paso team go deep into the playoffs this year and show the state that there are quality teams here in El Paso. If you are looking for a state championship for El Paso, play "outside the box" and stop "padding your schedules".....you will see that there is a chance for us to make history!!

It already has begun.

2003-Riverside got the Quarterfinals
2004-Riverside got to the Quarterfinals
2005-Franklin got to the Quarterfinals
2005-Chapin got to the Regionals
2006-Chapin got to the Regionals

We're getting there. Great progress has been made in the last 4 years. Teams like Palo Duro, Canyon Randall, San Angelo Central, Mansfield Summitt, Big Springs, and Hereford know who we are.

Teams like Abilene who Del Valle beat back in 2001 know El Paso.

Believe me out of town teams are beginning see the hunger in El Paso teams.

yea, but I think school districts & schools in el paso probly dont have as much money as the typical east texas ISD. there was a team I saw on a video (not sure but I think it might be midland lee) that makes about $50,000 on an annual auction they have to raise money, meanwhile, booster clubs in el paso who bust their ass working in concessions all year MIGHT make maybe $10,000 profit for the whole year. at one point, coach walker wanted to start saving up money in the booster club in case the EPISD stopped paying for expenses (like hotel & transportation) during playoffs

Once again MausDE, you are abssolutely correct!! Boosters in other areas of Texas seem to do a better job of fundraising for their football teams!! Not to mention that the income per capita in Midland is probably double what it is here in El Paso!! businesses can also support the cause for El Paso football. Sponsorships are a good source for the dollars to come into these programs!! I have noticed that Chapin has signs of what I think are sponsors on the fence of the baseball field facing out to HYW 54. That is a very good thing!! If the El Paso teams had the money to go out and play teams around Texas, would they? Would they see this as a benefit to their program? If they did go and play quality teams every year in west Texas and the panhandle, you would see a turn around in El Paso football. Maybe a team that would go past the third round and beyond!! The reason I say this is because of what I have seen with the Chapin program in the last few years. When they lost to Pampa, Chapin looked surprised to be in such a big game. They made game changing mistakes that cost them the game!!! Lack of experience against power teams was their demise. Next, the Aledo game. Chapin out played Aledo, but the play calling was real bad. They ran the same play that cost them the game at least five times and the c-back was close to intercepting the ball 3 times!! Finally, the c-back jumped the pass route and intercepted the ball in OT to score the winning touchdown. Playoff inexperience again cost them. This time in the coaching staff. They thought they could run the same plays over and over and get away with it against a good team. You can do that against El paso teams, but not teams like Aledo that are so used to being in big games and play quality opponents in their district games and preseason. Finally, Last year against Rider. What can I say? Chapin again showed their inexperience by making critical mistakes against a very good team. Three turnovers in the red zone in the first half???? They did not show that they could over come adversity!! Experience against good teams during the season would have helped them get past those mistakes. Andress was the only team to give them a run for the money last year. Not enough play against good teams in El paso cost that Chapin team again!!! Hope this makes sense, and sheds some light to a soulution to El Paso winning a state championship!!! Just my opinion!!

that is a good solution but the state board an da head office will be 2 busy tryin 2 get a good education 4 da kids...supposably.....and there not gonna wanna combine all these schools cuz den were gonna have 2 build a university....thats great 4 da team sports but teachers are worried bout da kids progress in da classroom...its possible but thats 1 out of 100 an 2 think of it we will dominate especially the talent we have in el paso ....god ****!!! thats a dream team....we should start a plan an try 2 make this happen...it'll be hard as ****!! but hey theres nothin wrong with a lil efffort soo everybody will know we tryied makin el paso a place 2 play sum high school football!!!!

A coach who makes 80-100K a year for coaching football has alot more to loose than the guy making 50K and maybe only 5 or 6K extra to coach football. The guy making big bucks is going to put in extra hours, and go the extra mile EVERY time because he wants his family to continue to reap the fruits of his labor. If he fails to win, he gets fired and will struggle to find a job that will pay him that kind of money. Our coaches here teach school, make about 45K doing that, then only make a few thousand bucks a year to put in 40+ hours a week coaching. So money is not really a big motavator for then, they are just motivated by the love of the game. Which is fine, but like I said a guy making more money has much to loose so he will find ways to win. We need to pay up if we want to win. Oh and it wouldnt hurt to have guys 6'5, 280 like the rest of Texas.

the school district in el paso already made the mistakes. there is way too many high schools in el paso. Coronado should be the only high school in the west, el dorado shoul have not be constructed as well as things like bel air, hanks, eastwood, they are so close to each other, instead of building new school they should have expanded the schools or what canutillo did by making a new school and the other one closed for example, chapin high school should have stayed as andress high and expanded it, andress high school should have been closed and you still have the same old andress powerhouse team, there should be only 1 or 2 school in the socorro district not 4.

The powers that be don't know any other way to make money fast so their solution is to build schools, schools, and more schools. More housing, more taxes and more Walmarts.

idk, Im not really buying into all this "too many schools" stuff. true, we would be better if our schools were bigger, but there is alot more to success than a larger talent pool. plenty of smaller schools are very successful around the state. enrollments(4a schools)- Hereford:1,176; Wolfforth Frenship:1,515; Wichita Falls Rider:1,779; Stephenville:1,064.5; Aledo:1,298.5; Everman:1,082.5; Corsicana:1,519.5; Brenham:1,596; La Marque:1,120; etc.
whereas in El Paso (for 4a), we have 4 schools w/ 1,500, 2 schools w/ 1,700, & 3 schools w/ 1,900

as for 5a, I will admit there are a few enormous giants statewide, but really, there are many successful schools across the state that have comparable #'s to EP 5a schools.
-I'd tell you where I got all these stats, but I'd probly get banned. let's just say I got them from a football magazine

for 5a schools: Lubbock Monterey:2,260.5; Abilene:2,478; Mansfield Summit:2,554; Euless Trinity:2,765.1; Hebron:2,166; Cedar Hill:2,466.5; A&M Consolidated:2,463; Pflugerville:2,028.5; Mesquite:2,487.5; Lufkin:2,441; Katy:2,789; Austin Westlake:2,356.5; etc.

like I said before, there are some massive schools in 5a that are successful, however, there are also quite a few successful schools that are regular sized.
idk how recent the enrollments are (thought the magazine is from this year), but even if they are a couple years old, they can't have changed that much.

I do not believe that enrollment is the key ingredient that we are missing in EP, as many other average sized 5a schools across the state are very successful. enrollment plays a part, but I think that is not the key thing that we are missing for a state championship or success in the playoffs.

oops, "though" not thought

maus have you researched to see if some of those schools are 11th and 12th grade only. 1,000 11th and 12th graders would have lots of talent to choose from.

I dont think it is. they list andress around 1900 and chapin 1700. most of the ep enrollments seem accurate, so idk why they would list some school's entire enrollment and others counting only 11th & 12th. even if they are split to 2 campuses like franklin, they still add both together to come up with the entire enrollment, which is why they had franklin listed as 2,900

sorry el paso but it will never happen you have to manny high school 30 i think your spread out to thin if you could put all the GOOD plater on one team "mabie"

well Maus this is what you are missing, i agree with the problem of having too many schools, look by having less schools that would give us a chance in 5a im not referring to 4a because that is a different thing but. having big schools is not saying that we would win state every year, but eventually it could happen, specially if you think of this points.
Imagine if coronado and Franklin were together in 2005 when Franklin went to the third round, they got that far, and with Coronado Talent and Size that they had that year, That year coronado had 3 d-1 player and a bunch of talented juniors(the famous Coronado 0-line where juniors) things would have been a lot different that year, 4th round fifth state could have happened, and i even think that Franklin team had a great chance but got on Trinity's Bracket
Now Last year Chapin reached the 3rd Round, yes 4a third round but its still pretty good, now imagine if chapin had andress with them, Andre Jones and Hamilton together, Chris Dowell, The combination of the lines would have made it a lot stronger and with more depth, and also the back from andress, now you are thinking huh?

ok look lets be realistic then, they are not going to close school and have big schools so there is only 2 things that can happen.
1- a 4a team with a crazy talented year, 5a is not probable, 5a is too good
2- Southlake carrol is a private school, they recruit players, so in el paso for example, Cathedral gets a new Principal who is all into football and starts getting all this sponsors, get in the UIL play 4a and recruit the best players in El Paso, this is probably the only solution and the project would take several years, in order to recruit all the best Athletes in EP you have to offer Luxuries, they could make the sunbowl cathedrals home field and get a lot of money to build a Football Facility. This is my solution, of course it doesnt have to be Cathedral, they can open a new private school with football fields.

Carroll is not a private school. It is the only high school in the district, but it is a public school no different than EPISD or YISD.... other than in median income level.

Im not saying we wouldnt be successful if we combined schools. Heck yea, we would be more successful, but we would be successful by having a huge advantage over other most other state schools by having (franklin + coronado) 5a schools w/ 5-6 thousand ppl. there are other ways to win state besides massive numbers, as has been proven by other schools around the state. if you say "hey we should just combine coronado and franklin" we'd have to let schools like odessa permian & midland lee combine to stay on even terms, and then who do you think would win? Im saying that numbers are not the key elements that are missing in ep, though I know massive numbers would help. we are already pretty close in numbers to good schools around the state. saying numbers is not THE problem, doesnt mean Im saying that we wouldnt be better or more successful if we combined schools to achieve massive enrollments.

Problem: Too many schools talent spread out

Solution: After at leats 2 years of play in a "ep league" to see who has talent the following year there should be a draft similar to how it is done for the all star games for each division (1-4a,2-4a,5-a)Then those players will make up the teams that are responsible to represent ep. who ever doesn't make keeps playing here in ep

got a better solution lets hear it

Go to the school board meetings and tell them to stop bending over for real estate companies and other fortune 500 companies.

Many great ideas and comments.... But you can not coach hard work and commitment and heartl... Lets stop making excuses that is so El Paso... and lets the parents begin a real commitment to athletics... There are private/catholic school that are under UIL rule...Look up Dallas Jesuit...5-A UIL>>>>....Lets get the players committed to a weight program, speed program and DIET program....If El Paso teams can win Tennis state championships why not every other sport.... commitment and training... and please no more excuses.

Consolidation is not a good idea.

La Joya ISD has had one HS for years. Forever I think. Well, they have nearly 5000 students and they are still very weak and get beat by San Antonio teams by 5 Tds.

La Joya is in the valley by they way.

Victoria Memorial used to be two 5A schools that were combined. I can honestly say that they were more successful prior to being combined. They are now talking about splitting into three HS because it has been a disaster.

Southlake Carroll is not a private school. That school is in one of the wealthiest areas in the STATE. Money is a big plus.

If you look at the official UIL enrollment numbers, El Paso schools are roughly typical to most of the rest of the state in numbers.

1-5a 2596
2-5a 2324
3-5a 2994
4-5a 2283
5-5a 2394
6-5a 2570
7-5a 2604
8-5a 2979

Average per school enrollment for each of the 8 districts that make up region one.

I think you are barking up the wrong tree by blaming the El Paso football woes on enrollment numbers.

OutofTowner I guess we are back to the lack of courage, determination, dedication, competitive drive and sacrifice that's the difference from El Paso teams to out of town teams.

I believe the true telling numbers would be the height, weight and speed of the average player.

I have watched several EP games in the last 3 years. One thing that stands out in my mind is the coaching, or lack of it. I see out-of-town teams make adjustments to gameplans as the game progresses, while mostly, the EP teams seem to follow the same gameplan throughout the game. (no plan B)

I see a difference in the fundamentals and execution of the plays. I see a lack of "hustle" with a few of the starting players. If the flow of the play goes away from them, they just stand there.


Mostly boils down to coaching... Give the new coach at Burges a few years to see what he can do.

Plain and simple, El Paso is not a football city. First there is not enough good coaching out there. (It starts at the elemantary and Jr. High Levels) Second the type of athletes. We produce 2 or 3 D-1 athletes a year. East Texas schools produce 2 to 3 per team. The calibur of football in El Paso is weak. 60+ years of football and we have yet to win a state championship speaks for itself. The better teams in El Paso are good because of the numbers the school has not because of the coaches in El Paso. Take the Montwood's and franklin's and and stick them in the San Eli's and Bowie's and i bet they dont ever experience the success they have now, just because of the numbers.

OLDTIMER it's obvious that your team did not make the playoffs. Relax oldie you'll get over it.

Your right we didn't make the playoff's this year, We've been busy winning the state championship 5 times in the last 20 years. How many teams have even made it out of the third round of the playoffs from El Paso. Was just trying to give you some friendly advice. Converse Judson is our team if your wondering. look them up, and you'll find a an example of a solution. Your welcome Steve.

OLDTIME what are doing coming on to a site that covers El Paso football? Are you guys shaking in your nervous Judson tails. Don't come barking your crappy advice. Go give it to Midland who was beat by our very own Coronado team last year. Go give you advice to Mansfield Summit and San Angelo who were beat by Franklin in 2005. Go give you adivice to the other out of town teams that have falling to El Paso teams in the past. They should be embarrassed when you consider the lack of support the El Paso football programs get here. The number of schools located here in El Paso which spreads out the talent. Even with all these schools being built in El Paso we are still able to win the Area Round.

I will never forget that Franklin win over Mansfield Summit in the 2nd round of the Playoffs. Mansfield was ranked 8th in the State and Franklin came back on their asses in the 2nd half under a first year quarterback.

Oldtimer, I pass thru there at least 3 times a year.
I have seen your stadium, the water tank, and the big signs of all the winning years. Lots of Military Kids.
I'm sure you get more Federal Money than all the schools combined for El Paso. You are the only High School there. Well, believe it or not,Our kids are stepping it up, I am proud of them. I don't believe
any of the out of town teams can take us lightly anymore they better be ready cuz we are going to bite the sandwich and take a piece of the pie!!!! GO EL PASO!!!!!!!!!!!

oldtimer was probably on the texas football 5a board and was probably invited by the lone EP supporter on that board to visit epgridiron. I don't get you guys...you want respect from the rest of the state, someone outside of EP gives his 2 cents worth and ya'll bash him.
Oldtimer will probably get banned from this site like I was last year for posting on an EP board.
AS for ya'lls theory of too many schools in EP...there are 6 high schools in the Katy ISD..all within 10 miles of each other...more are being built...when Cinco Ranch, Morton Ranch and Seven Lakes opened folks said that Katy was done...Katy still has approx. 300 players in the program from frosh to senior. As for the money, yea there probably is more money in SLC, the booster clubs bring alot of money in from hard work and parents volunteering, not to mention the kids busting their chops selling fundraiser items.
Or oldtimer is probably an ex El Pasoan, like me, and just likes to check out how EP football is doing.
I have a message to the players in EP, go out and play YOUR game and don't buy into the hogwash you read. The so called powerhouses DO NOT take anyone lightly come playoffs, you will not be overlooked.
Its a new season come this week...everyone is 0-0, lose and you go home, as far as rankings go, throw them out the window, the only ranking that matters now is come December 22, 2007.

Good advice Reg 3/5A.

Forums like this one around the state do not even mention El Paso teams?. Why?

Because out of town people do not see El Paso as a football city so they do not bother talking about El Paso football and do not bother looking for information or what people are saying about El Paso football. In my opinion if a El Paso team gets passed the 3rd round of the playoffs and deeper you will see many out of towners looking for information on El Paso football. Just like Mayfield when they lost to Montwood their players and fans were coming on here talking crap and posting their excuses. It's all just a matter of time.

here's an interesting bit of info. Del Valle (1961.5) is the biggest school remaining in 4a div 1 playoffs right now. they started out bidistrict 3rd behind andress (1974) and Richardson Pearce (1980), but both andress & pearce are out now.

Im sorry, but in order for el paso to even compete, these school first of all need to read a resume on these so called "coaches"... that have to be teachers. 2nd in the city of el paso there are more High Schools than the City of Houston, Look at Population differences, yea all our talent is spread everywhere. We would need to seperate schools just as an "example" no one get mad. Lets Just say Shut down the smallest school of the 3. We will Do Eastwood, Hanks, and Bel Air. Shut down Bel Air, send all Freshman and Sophmores to Eastwood which will be the feeder for Hanks where all Juniors and Seniors will go, so now we have the talent of 3 schools, in one. its a simple concept, thats what all the large cities have been doing for years... thats why they are always contenders...you always here the same names in these high school championships..... Easy, Easy, Easy, But city is too STUBBORN! all they want is more schools, more schools, more schools, WE HAVE ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think the whole "we have too many schools" arguement is relevant. look up current enrollments for this year, & you will see that we are pretty average or above average in enrollment as far as playoff schools. heck, andress was the second biggest school (1974 ppl) in the big division of 4a, & del valle was the 3rd biggest (1961.5), & look how they did. frenship's enrollment is 1515, by the way. chapin was 6th biggest (1745) in their small 4a playoff division & lost to canutillo (1337), 30th in enrollment size in their bracket. hereford enrollment is 1176, lubbock estocado is 997.5 (while austin's is 1512).

As for 5a, only the big division of 5a playoffs can use numbers as an excuse (Montwood=2672.5, Permian=4027.90, & San Angelo Central=3030.5), Franklin=2977, Lubbock Coronado=2212.45). for 5a small division, Hanks=2357 & Lubbock Monterey=2206.47, EP Coronado=2484 & Amarillo=2018.5 & Abilene=2478.

these are all the official uil enrollments for 06-08 football. look them up if you want. numbers are not an excuse, except for maybe big division of 5a. there is no reason why our 4a teams shouldn't be accomplishing more. since numbers is not the problem in 4a in this city, it leads me to believe it is not the ONLY problem in 5a either. other things come it to play like coaching, discipline, commitment, offseason programs, # of players who join football, $, expectations, strength of schedule (which helps a team prepare for playoffs), passion for football, & the biggest thing, mentality & UNCEASING confidence not matter what happens in a game (they keep an even emotional keel, & do not panic)

The city has nothing to do with the school districts in El Paso, hence the term "Independent School District".

There is a 500 pound gorilla in the room that nobody wants to talk about. Do this, look at the make up of teams that win State Championships. Look at the make up of successful NCAA teams. Look at the make up of the NFL. What do thay have that El Paso doesn't? What does El Paso have that they don't? Coaching and training are a big part but there is more to it than that.

Then move to New Mexico!

Here are some reasons:

Montwood is better than any team in New Mexico, yet Mayfield will win another state title while Montwood starts offseason.

Las Cruces High and Mayfield are 1 and 2 almost every year.

Santa Teresa is a growing area and has a top ten program in 4A in need of just a couple good athletes.

El Paso Property taxes have reached the point when its time to move. You can live in Santa Teresa, enjoy low taxes, and play football.

If you graduate from a New Mexico High School, the state pays for your college provided you go to a state school.

theres too much schools in elpaso teams in east texas have combined student population so here its franklin and coronado in esast texas it would just be one big school.. or bel air and eastwood. it would be one big school.. montwood and americas would be a big school get my point so theres never going to b a souloution

Well
We can be like mid texas teams

1. Breed football players
2. Teach our kids the fundamentals of the sport from day one.
3. Power lifting teams
4. Just be more competetive
5. More fans should be supporting.

make el paso county a state.

TBirdDT75
I am really feeling the angle you take on this whole state championship thing. Finally someone has come along with a plan that is more aligned with how the other major programs around the state think. No one in Frenship (or any other city for that matter) disallows people to enter their city for fear that they would have to build another high school. Nor do they sit up and accept the excuse that we can't compete cause we have too many teams. How long is El Paso gonna ride that excuse? I've been here in this city for the past 10 years (I know it might not be long for some) and that is the #1 cop-out that I get.

But if we start more along the lines of what you (TBirdDT75) have posted I believe that we would get further (alot faster) than sitting around riding the excuse that we just need to have less high schools.

1. Breed football players
2. Teach our kids the fundamentals of the sport from day one.
3. Power lifting teams
4. Just be more competetive
5. More fans should be supporting.

If teams did these things, wow, what a difference that would bring to El Paso football. Then we could create a football 'culture' that's condusive to winning a state championship.

The feeling here in El Paso during football season is dismal. There is only a small football community that is diehard and will support El Paso football at whatever cost!! You go to other places like Odessa, and the whole community comes together during football season to support their teams!!!!! Those families see football as a way of life along with the education of their kids. They go hand in hand. They start their kids early in life!!! They give them a mouth gaurd instaed of a pacifier!!! They start the weight lifting in 6th grade. It gets harded as the years go. The off season is all about football as well. I know, I grew up there!! All other sports are secondary to football. The mentality is so different over there. From the community to the actual football programs!!! One last thing....they concentrate on academics and enforce disipline throughout the athelets time in school. By the time they get to the varsity level, they have complete football players!!

It's kind of obvious isn't it? (but not politically correct) EP teams will not win a state championship because of a lack of african-american athletes...

Time killer as much as I would love to disagree with you it is so true.

Franklin had a really solid team this past season and I say that if we had a bruising FB/RB say 200lbs who ran atleast a 4.5 or 4.6, we're talking deep playoff run. This imaginary FB/RB would take pressure off Billy Hayes and alot more pressure off Vince.

TimeKiller,

Non-Politically correct? Not politically accurate! Most of the Teams who win State are predominately White Athletes, with diversity in the Skilled Positions. There is more to winning Football than Speed! The Patriots Draft Intelligence / and Team oriented Players. But intelligence and Coachability are the two greates factors in choosing Players. How many Predominately Black Schools have won the Texas Highschool State Championships? Diversity is the Key!!! Color does not determine Ability. Look at Doug Flutie, Wes Welker, and guys like that. But I do Agree in a sense DIVERSITY is the Key!! By choosing the right players for the right positions, you can create a winning combination!

EldoDad,
there is more than speed... it's size. And for the most part, this is what a largely hispanic population will not have. I am speaking in general terms. Using Doug Flutie as an example only emphasizes (pun intended) my point.
Simply put, the talent pool in EP will never compare with that of central/east Tx.
Diversity? Do you mean that a succesful program needs to have a racially equal amt of players at certain positions?

when el paso realizes that football is America's sport and gets panzy "mijo"off the soccer team perhaps a change will happen. By the way, does Permian even field a soccer team......El Paso has a state champion in soccer....who cares ? The point is, the sports culture has to change in El Paso for football to be more important to the kids.

Alot of players want to play every sport in high school. Basketball, Soccer, Baseball and all those other mickey mouse sports. We have way too many teenagers in El Paso wanting to be Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders.

If El Paso ever wants to go deep into the playoffs El Paso teenagers better start getting serious and focusing on 1 sport and be great at that sport as they do in the basin and metroplex regions. Texas is football.

Ticks me off when I see over 6feet basketball players not playing football here in El Paso. Parkland is good example.

Or 6'4-300 lb. guy playing the flute in band!whats up with that?
Get serious EP football and train for next year!!!!

Last year my son's little league football team played against a team that had boys on THEIR CHEERLEADING SQUAD!!

haha! that is funny...

I'm totally serious; it really happened!

At first, I laughed too...

But then after thinking about it, I realized it was actually sad..

Seems like dad's want their kids to do everything. Mow the lawn, keep the house clean, wash the car, do homework, help mother in the kitchen, be an ace in the pitchers mound, run for 2000 yards, make the A honor roll, be sure to get several scholarships and most importantly find the right girl that will make you happy son.

Dad's we are in football country. Wake up.

I've got two boys(twins) who are 9yrs old(5'-128lbs), they already have 2 yrs. playing REC.footabll(both play DE)!They both love FOOTBAL and the Dallas Cowboys, (good sign) and will attend Canutillo High when they reach high school. (TEACH THEM WHILE THERE YOUNG!!!!)

The best team in the nation is Miami Northwestern. All Black school

Time Killer,

What I mean that Soon El Paso will be about 60,000 strong in the Way of Military Families who bring a wealth of Size/Speed/ and Diversity! How Many Black Running Quarterbacks have ever won the Superbowl? One Doug Williams (Intelligent Pocket Passer), Vince Young won the National Championship, but his Legs only Work well for him because he is an accurate Pocket Passer! And yes you need a Diverse Squad who can bring different attributes to the table! You can't just grab a bunch of guys who are fast/big and strong, becasue many of them are uncoachable. Diversity is the Key trust me! There are many biases among the coaches in EL Paso, we have to overcome these in order top create winning combinations! I caoched in Virginia, in a very diverse environment, and we loved it!

this is the best way the weight room we are to lazy even
the guys that work hard we need MEAT!!! because we got the talent

I dont think its so much size thats the problem in el paso. Sure we've got size, but whats more important than that is speed. El Paso teams have a serious lack of team speed. It needs to be dealt with right now starting with offseason training and the program has to be able to develop all the players speed correctly. Think about it, Abilene had a LINEBACKER running a 4.4! I mean everyone needs to have speed, not just the secondary, the d-line and linebackers, need speen to burn. RB's and WR's only running a 4.7 are only gonna get you so far. The chapin teams that went 3 rounds deep was probably one of the faster teams ever in El Paso. Fast times in El Paso are 4.8-4.7's. Fast times everywhere else are 4.5-4.4's

EldoDad,
I still disagree with your statements...

"Black QBs"... poor comparison; U don't see many
running QBs in NFL because injury risk
factor. You see plenty of them in NCAA
because coaches are not worried about a
player lasting 5 or 10 yrs...
"Dffrnt Attributes".... are we talking HS football or
meeting of the UN?
"Bias in Coaches"... I would think that most coaches
are biased towards the players that run
fast and hit hard...

TimeKiller,

Your statement was that El Paso did not have enough Black Athletes, as if to say that only Black Athletes would make the difference in El Paso's performance. I agree with you that they bring different Attributes to the table, but so do White/Hispanic/Indian/Korean etc... Players skills are a combination of their Genetics/Coaching, and part of their Genetic make-up being "Heart" 87% of the NFL is African American, so if we use your philosophy how can the Miami Dolphins be 0-11, or why don't teams have equal records? What I am saying is just being an African American Athlete does not mean that you are predisposed to be better than another athlete. This was brought up many times in the NFL, especially reference cornerbacks, because less than 5% of NFL cornerbacks are races other than African American, mainly due to the fact that coaches now have a bias toward leaning their way! I agree we need more diversity, and we need teams that are multi faceted in all areas of the Game! The real question might be is El Paso ready to handle racial diversity in their programs? El Paso is 86 or 87% Hispanic and almost 99% on the east side. Is this city ready to handle the Change!!!

The solution is easy!
All these top 4-a highschool average 1500 student enrollment, ok the key to have a succesfull program like other 4-a programs is to have 11-12 graders only in that highschool! 9-10 on a seperate school...If you really think about it , this top 4-a school should really be 5-a! If you include 9,10,11 and 12 the enrollment would easily be over 2500. Thats the key for a 4-a powerhouse ,keep your enrollment down under 2000 with only 11-12 graders! and you get THE PICK OF THE LITTER....

just imagine in ep, you have 9-10-11 and 12th graders averaging 1500 student enrollment in 4-a....

I think Franklin started using this system....

I think in Franklin case,they only seperated the 9th graders so it wont overflow the high school! and that would mean another high school for el paso (if it were to overflow)

just cuz they separate the 11th & 12th graders doesnt mean that 9th & 10th aren't also counted for enrollment. the only reason they split them up is to alleviate overcrowding. the enrollments of all 4 grades are still added together to get the final enrollment. trust me, this is not a problem of not having enough ppl at the school, though that would help. many schools around the state accomplish more with alot less ppl than we have.

Converse Judson is a two-part school two campuses and they count both for enrollment... That's why they are still a huge 5A high school... Plano use to be that way... I don't know if they still are or not. Abilene has been considering that, but it'll never go through... they're too proud of their tradition.

Anywho... I'd bring this question to you:

Pair up two schools in every district... and then tell me whose name you'll take... and mascot??? That'll even be a bad discussion and with all this "tradition" what will happen? Angry parents... school riots... Awww he's a Eastwood boy... oh he's a Andress boy. Just that right there will cause ruckus of some sort. EP is doomed

1.Two teams: Franklin and Coronado
2.Mascot: To be decided (something to do with the westside)
3.Head Coach: Walker (I'm sure CHS will disagree but I think Walker is better then Brooks)

what's the name of that school? It'll have to be a whole brand new name.

I'm talking about every HS... pair them... name that school, and give me the mascot. Keep in mind the rivalries going on, and how many problems that would create.

Additionally... which school uses which levels?

ElMontorado Ramstecs
Easthanks Trooper-knights
Ysletaside Rangians
Parkdress Mataeagles
Chavin Rocket Huskies
Frankloranado Thundercougars

I know it's just talk, but not trying to sound racist, if you pair up those schools, you'll probably have someone shot at Andress or Parkland for being a "parkland guy" or an "andress guy"..just saying. The idea of pairing up schools is just wishful thinking, though it'll be awesome!

I really think that Montwood would still win district even if they teamed up all the schools and left Montwood by themselves, because every school has talent, plenty of it, but at the end it comes down to coaching.

haha! I dont think so observer. I doubt they could compete with a team the likes of the ThunderCougars!!!

This upcoming Montwood team is loaded with speed and some talent, but the Montwood winning ways have ended with 07. These new players are good, but I think they will come second to Franklin in DC in 08.

The only way an El Paso school would win state would be if the city would stop building new high schools, and just make the high schools we have now bigger. Can you imagine how good our teams would be if...Franklin and Coronado were one school, Irvin and Andress and Chapin and Parkland were one school, Riverside and Ysleta and Del Valle, now the eastside would have to be a little different, there would probably have to be 2 or 3 high school to account for Montwood, Americas, Hanks, El Dorado, and Eastwood. Realistically that would be the only way a school from El Paso would be able to compete at the state level. But, that will never happen because every five years there are 2 or 3 new high schools in this city that are being put up. Since 2000 this city has added: Chapin, Horizon, and El Dorado. Now there are plans to have another high school built out by Horizon, and another one out in the North East. To me it seems like the city is trying to screw the northeast because once this new school is built that will put 5 high schools in the northeast. How much more can the cities talent get watered down?

In my opinion the city doesn't care about the success of student athletes. All they care about is housing and more walmarts around them. More communities more taxation which means more money for the city.

I've got an idea that wont change up anything, why dont we just work harder and practice more and stop complaining about everything and work.

that's an excellent idea fresh

Thanx man I dnt know y every1 is blamin it on that we have to many schools, that just means we have a better chance because the more good teams we have here jus gives us a better chance of one of them getting there. If all the schools here would work 2 get to State EP would b unstopable.

the newer schools shouldnt have been built just imaging if horizon or el dorado have never been built, those good players at eldo could be playing at montwood, chapin players coulda been at andress dominating texas
ex chapin of 06 07 cliff tucker david more brandon copeland dominique hamilton mixing in wit andre jones torres knight chris dowell this team would have so many weponds

school mixings
franklin & coronado
riverside & yesleta $ del valle
hanks and eastwood
montwood and eldo
horizon and soccoro
jeff, bowie and el paso high
andres, irvin and parkland
chapin, austin and burges

exactly we have the talent in el paso but its just too spread out among all the schools...if we were to mix and combine schools then we would be able to compete with EULESS TRINITY, PERMIAN,and other power house central and eastern texas teams

Imagine the westside team with Franklin, Coronado and Canutillo!

Those 3 schools combine would bring consecutive state titles that's for sure.

Wat About Coranado & Franklin & Canutillo & Anthony That will be one big powerhouse

DREAM BIG...AND WIN BIG!!!!!!

If Irvin, Andress, Parkland, and Chapin were combined into one high school, there wouldn't be a school around that would be able to compete with them. With those four schools you would have by far the most athletic team in the city, and one of the most athletic teams in the state. Can you imagine all the speed that team would've had this year....Frye, Edwards, Simmons, Johnson, Cotton, Copeland, and on and on, that team would have to many weapons all across the board.

I have read many times on here people wondering what needs to be done to succeed outside of El Paso. I have now seen over dozen games in the past few years with the best from El Paso playing the best from elsewhere. I have noticed a few things.

El Paso teams are never going to "outsize" the ROT(rest of Texas) team. I have seen the EP team near equal a couple of times. This is counting more than the first string. Allows for substitutions without a drop-ff in performance during the game or season due to injuries.

The successful teams run the spread. It reduces the importance of size, and puts more importance on the speed, quickness and technique(Coaching) of the players. The only teams I have seen which ran against this was the 2004 Rangers and 07 T-Birds. Hand-off to Tony G. left, right, middle and throw to out of the backfield. Davila left, right, and mainly up the middle. The rare throw to keep AMA honest. Didn't work at all against the plus-sized Abilene team. Chapin, in the loss to Rider, moved the ball at will up and down the field until inside the 10 where the spread breaks down.

Junior High programs should be mandated to mirror the basic offensive and defensive sets of the high school they feed. Imagine incoming freshmen who are refining their skills instead of learning from scratch.

Year round training(strength and endurance). If the season is over, the players revert to physical training programs which continue throughout the summer months by optional "strength camps".

Good diet. Chico's Tacos and beer are not the meals of champions. **** good, but not going to assist with speed and quickness. Does Chico's do mail order??? ****, I will be thinking about them for weeks...

Playing out of town teams in the preseason as much as possible. It would make it "no big deal", just another game.


Acquire equipment for pre/post-game video analysis. This would also allow coaches to better evaluate team practices and games. If the schools don't have the equipment, this is where the Boosters come into play.


Make the head coach the Athletic director. He would then have minimum responsibilities in the classroom. Isn't football the primary revenue generating sport at the school?


Boosters(parents), Boosters(alumni), Boosters(fans). They are the glue for the whole program to work smoothly.

Combining schools into super-sized schools is a dream that ain't gonna happen. UIL would not allow 10,000 student campuses to competed with regular 5A sized(3000-5000) schools.

Totally agree

The only way for an El Paso team to win state is to start competing for New Mexico title....

For about the last decade Texas 5A football has been dominated by all the teams of east Texas. Most of these schools hail from the Dallas area. Several people believe that the champion schools come from small towns like Odessa or Midland. Instead they come from simple rich suburbs of Dallas. As horrible as it may sound, MONEY IS EVERYTHING. We are all familiar with the school Odessa Permian. If you have ever been to Odessa, it is a very run down, dead end city with no money. This school has won many state titles in the past despite that fact; however, they were mainly dominant in the 70s and 80s. Between the period of their reign and now, their program has diminished because of the lack of wins, and east Texas powerhouses have began to build. With money a team can afford the best coaches, the best equipment, and parents can afford to send their athlete children to football camps every single year. Think of the team Southlake Carroll. They recently won 3 straight 5A state championships. This past season would have made the 4th however, the unfortunate injury of their star quarterback caused them a loss in one of the early rounds of the playoffs. The reason for this is that Carroll High School is found in yet another rich Dallas suburb, Southlake. This school is known for having a larger football budget than some universities, and that is the basis of their success. Carroll is the only high school in Southlake, which is why they are 5A. All kids in that suburb attend that one high school. It is like this for the other suburbs of all major cities in Texas. Eueless Trinity High School is found in Eueless, suburb of Dallas; Katy High School is found in Katy, suburb of Houston; Judson High School is found is Judson, suburb of San Antonio. All of these schools are apart of their own districts, unlike us El Paso teams who are mostly part of EPISD, Ysleta, and Socorro districts. Our districts have a set salary for all their employees. This means that teachers and coaches at Franklin make the same money as those at Bowie, which is not very much. Although, in the extremely wealthy suburbs, the districts can pay the employees at their SINGLE schools whatever they want. This means that even the teachers and coaches there are also rich. Some in-city schools make an impact in the playoffs, such as Austin Westlake, however this school is also very wealthy. The 5A Texas teams in El Paso try but have always remain unsuccessful against these wealthy schools. Our communities can't afford the best coaches in the state, the best equipment, or possess the money to send kids to camps every single year. This is why a 5A El Paso team will never reach that state championship title. They might get lucky with a playoff schedule and end up at the game itself, but the title itself will never come to a 5A El Paso team. The teams that are most likely to achieve the state title from El Paso are those who are part of the 4A class. This is a relatively big classification, but at the same time, it is not the biggest. This grants a greater possibility of success due to the fact that schools are more evenly populated and have an even number of resources, unlike 5A schools who can have very populations. A school with 2000 students can match up with a school with 4000 students. Most 4A schools are not wealthy. Their smaller size is usually due to the fact that they are from small towns in Texas. Look at the past playoff brackets. 4A teams in El Paso have had far greater success in the playoffs than the 5A teams. As bad as it may sound, it is the truth of El Paso football.

never say never...

Informer is basically saying that all El Paso high schools should just shut down their football programs because they are fighting a loss cause. What a dufus.

That is not true!

Man, I can't wait to start coaching high school football, I have two more years of college at Utep!! I love to prove people wrong. I'm sick and tired of hearing that EP teams can't have it(state title). I'm an individual that gets fired up when it comes to athletics...especially when peeps state, "you can't hang with the big dogs."

Informer made some good points but I would like to add my own thoughts:

Just a little Research: Converse Judson is in Judson ISD which has two High Schools - Judson and Wagner, Trinity is in H-E-B School District which has two HS's - Trinity and Bell, Katy HS is in Katy ISD which has 6 HS's.

Since 1990 (Permian won their last state title in 1990):
Dallas has 14 5A State Titles (Carroll - 4, Trinity - 2, Lewisville - 2, FM Marcus -1, Duncanville - 1, Cedar Hill - 1, Garland 1, Mesquite 1, Plano - 1). Cedar Hill, Duncanville & Carroll are 1 School Towns and Lewisville and Plano have a 1 school town mentality.

Houston has 6 (Katy - 4, North Shore - 1, Aldine 1) No 1 School Towns, although Katy & North Shore have 1 school town mentalities.)

San Antonio / Central Tx has 8 (Judson - 4, Austin Westlake - 1, Temple - 1, Killeen - 1 San Antonio Roosevelt - 1) When Judson won their 4 titles they were a 1 School Town and Temple and Austin Wwstlake are both 1 school towns and Killeen was in a two school district at that time (like Trinity). Roosevelt is in North East ISD (5 schools).

East Texas has 4 (Tyler John Tyler - 1, Tyler Lee - 1, Marshall - 1, Lufkin - 1) Marshall and Lufkin are 1 School Towns and the two Tyler schools are in the same school district.

West Texas has 4 (Midland Lee - 3, Odessa Permian - 1) No 1 School Towns. Midlane and Permian both have two schools in their school districts).

Additionally, of the 23 schools that won state titles in this period, 8 had substantially larger student populatons than our El Paso Schools – Duncanville, Plano, Judson (at the time), Aldine, North Shore, Lewisville, Midland Lee & Permian.

8 of the schools won state tiles with student populations of less than 2,500 – Tyler,
Tyler Lee, Westlake, Cedar Hill, Lufkin, Marshall, Temple, Mesquite. As a matter of fact, when Carroll won their 4 titles , their student population was less than 2300.

The rest of the schools had populations between 2,500 and 3,000 when they won their state titles – 7 schools total - Katy, Killeen, Flower Mound Marcus, Garland, Trinity,
SA Roosevelt, & Mesquite.

The point being there are keys to winning a state championship. But, it doesn’t have to do with size of the school like a lot of people here in EP say. Some of the common denominators of state champions are great community support, expectations of success by the coaching staff, community, school and athletes, financial support (budget and booster clubs), great kids with character, strength, speed and athletic ability, and great coaching with solid programs from the middle school. These are not the only keys to winning state championships but they certainly are the main keys.

I agree bro

1 Expectations of success by the coaching staff
2 Expectations of success by the community
3 Expectations of success by the school
4 Expectations of success by the athletes
5 Financial support by administation
6 Financial support by booster clubs
7 Great student athletes with character
8 Great student athletes with strength
9 Great student athletes with speed
10 Great student athletes with talent

and the Cherry on top
Great coaching with solid programs from the middle schools

we should start having the middle schools start working out the kids so by the time there senoirs they would be able to take on out of town football teams

its not legal in texas till u get in high school...

in new mexico and old coach told me mayfield starts on a weight program after their 7th grade year
thats pretty crazy

There is no solution. El Paso will never win State

Cut texas off at the mst zone and let them play in nm for that title.

This is not possible because of one simple problem. The UIL would never approve of this.

A very good friend of mine coached in the Dallas area on one of those state championship teams. We are not even close in any areas to these programs, not even close!

Question? How many of our Head Coaches in El Paso ever coached somewhere other than El paso? What are their pedigrees. It seems to me that some of the Schools who Win shop for coaches, and find one's who have a sense of winning. I think maybe if we bright in a coach that had one a State Championship, our thletes would "Buy into the Program" and give them all they had (Heart and Soul).

Hire good coaches and institute a new offensive scheme (like the Big 12 football programs, i.e. Texas, Oklahoma or Texas Tech football).
Start the offensive scheme (possibly as early as 6th grade) onto high school. Hire coaches that will follow this plan so that a high school in El Paso can be successful outside of their region. Hire coaches that will institute a good training regimen in the off-season and encourage players to attend football camps. This needs to start early in order to be successful...

they found a way to legally combine them just for football. Fix the uniforms so it represents all three of the schools. I bet we would make it way farther in the playoffs, and run the state. we would have way more support too.

That won't ever happen

the only way el paso team could make state is if we did not have that many high schools. say we put all the west side teams toghter like franklin, coronado, and canutillo i think we would have a grat chance at making it but el paso just keeps making more and more high schools and there is no way they will ever make it.

I'm from the Permian Basin and I live out here in El Paso. From what I've seen out here is that E.P. has many problems.
1. The mentality is so backwards when it comes to football. Football is the nucleus of every program, yet people here want to compare it to basketball, baseball, and even girl sports. That's ridiculous!! You can not compare football to any of these sports. When ep changes their mentality, then things will begin to change. Football is a year round sport. What I mean by that is this. In the Permian Basin, once football is over, within a week, the offseason has already begun preparing for the next year. And believe me when I say this, offseason is not pushups, and just running bleachers to take up time, which is what some of these offseasons consist of here in ep. Offseason is intense and it means something. You guys talk about size and speed, this is where you develop it. It just doesn't happen. Here in ep, when football is over, it's over and an after thought. Also, the kids east of here are also expected to put their own time in after school, before school, and in the summer time as well. So alot of responsibility is put on the kids as well. Weights is huge!!
2. Coaches out here seem to be safisfied with just being the best in ep. Not all but most of them.If they happen to win a game or two in playoffs then that's just an extra, but when they get blown out, they come with the attitude of well we beat our rivals in district, or that they were district champs, or that they were the best in ep. And that in itself is not saying very much. I don't mean to be so negative, but it's true. I think also that when the ep times ranks the schools, it gives the false sense that teams are that good. You have them saying, tonight #1 in the city is hosting # 4. I mean, I look at that and think to myself, these two will get killed by anyone out east, and it seems like that's what they'e playing for. To be #1 in ep and that's it. Yet when they play outside of ep, these highly ranked ep teams get blown out. Of course there are exceptions to everything. This year montwood beat midland lee. It made big time news here in ep. Everyone was calling it an upset. It wasn't an upset. Lee has been down for a couple of years and everyone east knew they'd struggle in the playoffs. Also a coach from Permian told me as well that when montwood played permian last year, it was hard for the kids to get up to playing an ep team, that's why montwood jumped on them early. Once permian woke up, they went on to blow out montwood. Look at Parkland this year, in round 1 they beat an ep team, then beat a san angelo team that made the playoffs for the first in maybe more that 10-15 years. It really wasn't a surprise that parkland won, but barely. Then met a powerhouse the next round and got blown out... I think right now teams are giving themselves too much credit and thinking that because they're good in ep, they can play with anyone east of here. Then they are given a big shot of reality. It's just wishful thinking.
I went and saw Canutillo play Frenship this year. I heard before the game how big and good canutillo was and how they had an apportunity to win. As soon as the game started you could see the difference in the two teams. Canutillo had big kids, but they were fat and flabby. you could tell that they don't have much of an offseason, while the frenship kids looked big and muscular. They looked like true athletes. Frenship was just putting a whooping on these guys. When the offensive line would come off the field for canutillo, the'd walk over to their o line coach, and he looked at them like "what do you want me to say to you guys?" He looked lost and with no answers for his kids.
When implementing a good offseason becomes part of your program, then you will develop athletes that can compete on the same level as the kids east of here. Strong emphasis on your offseason should be #1. Coaches here don't go to many clinics that the state offers during the year. They can listen to coaches from around the state speak about their offseasons and their success. EP is nowhere to be found. It's very rare that these guys go outside of the ep area to get good and fresh ideas which goes back to what I said earlier, as long as they're the best in ep, then that's enough.
3. Principals are a big problem here in ep. We have athletic directors, but it basically comes down to the decisions of the principals. And most of the time these people have no clue when it comes to athletics. For one, alot of schools here in ep don't even have an athletic period. Many principals here have an academic only mentality. They don't realize that academics and athletics go hand in hand. Winning boosts test scores. It makes for a better atmosphere at school and in the classroom, and better yet, instills pride.
4. Coaches here are just recycled. If an opening comes up, its going to be filled by an ep coach and the cycle continues. I have seen some good coaching here, but for the most part, it's pretty poor. Some of these teams I've seen on film are very unsound when it comes to their schemes. Sometimes it's down right embarrasing to watch. If ep changed their whole mentality towards football, they'd probably get some interest from coaches out east, but the reputation of ep is too bad for any of these big name coaches to even consider. To many out east, ep is a joke and that's sad.
5. Support and facilities. Or should I say the lack of?! Fridays out east are electrifying. The game is all that is on the minds of the community. Here in ep u can't tell if if's friday or monday. Games aren't well attended and seem to be a place to only hang out. Go watch a permian game and see the difference.
Facilities for the most part are poor. You have to have good facilities to attract good coaches.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop here.

no its simple stop buying high schools


kids do poor on ur taks and schools will close down
thus kids transfer and bam less schools more talent

el paso wins a state title!!!

jk kids take taks seriously

Razor 15 very nice of you to enlighten us with your OPINION as to the problem that many already know exist and the reason why it exist.

Razor 15 maybe you can enlighten us with a solution.

My friend maybe if coaches from East Texas had the balls to come to El Paso to coach and change the bad reputation that you say El Paso has in the minds of the East Texas folks. Do not East Texas head coaches or assistant coaches have the balls to come down and make a name for themselves and take on the difficult task at hand? Are to comfortable where they are at? Do they not have the passion to change something for the better and make a name for themselves?

Why do East coaches have to wait until everything has been repaired and hunky~dory for them to come and apply for coaching positions here in El Paso? Why do East coaches have to wait for the facilities or salaries to increase for them to get their butts down to El Paso to coach? Why can't East Texas come with balls to El Paso and make a sacrifice to repair the bad joke of a reputation that you say El Paso has in the minds of the East Texas folks?

It takes coaches with balls to take on difficult tasks when he is not being assisted by the Athletic Directors and still do the job but it takes GREAT COACHES with huge balls to take on a difficult tasks when he is not being assisted by the Athletic Directors and still do the job as well as change everything in and around the city and turn everything upside down for the better.

My friend any type of men out there in East Texas who are excellent coaches willing to take a pay cut, work with an administration that gives hardly any support and who is willing to coach in a community that lacks the motivation to support by attending games and getting involved with the program? Any type of men out there in East Texas who are willing to come down and coach high school football in El Paso and make things as they are in East Texas? Coaches with balls who will make sacrifices and come make changes instead of waiting for it to change and then come and apply?

My friend anyone can talk a game or talk about problems and issues that a city has but it takes men with huge balls to change things throughout the city without expecting any assistance from Athletic Directors. Those types of men are rare to come by.

I think your post says it all, someone would be crazy to come and take a job in El Paso. Bad facilities for the most part. Take a pay cut, work with admin who isn't supportive, work with a community that doesn't support the program, in addition to being in a multi-school ISD where its harder to implement change!! Those men are hard to come by, you'd have to find someone who is literally insane to leave places east where the exact opposite is going on.

I agree like gotta light states who has the balls to want to change things and make things better instead of waiting for someone else to make things better.

Where are the leaders??????????????? Is everyone a follower??????????????

Every year the squads get smaller! Has anybody else noticed the trend? I remember watching Coronado, Franklin, Montwood, cetera in 2006, and was simply amazed at how big (6'4"+, 225+) these players were. Now the average is somewhere between 5'5" or 5'7", 160-170. Maybe that is why El Paso can't win State, because when the competition looks at us: They feel as if they are playing Elementary kids! It might be the El Paso water, but what is happening!?

Anonymous you're an idiot. 1-5A teams from 2006 did not even beat a out of town team in the Texas state playoffs. It does not matter if those 1-5A players from 2006 were taller they couldn't do crap with their size that year. As for you Razor 15 you're an idiot too. You are one of those people that will continue to say that a panhandle team lost to an El Paso team becuase the panhandle team was not that good that year or that El Paso got lucky or that those panhandle teams take El Paso teams lightly and El Paso jumps on them early. That is so stupid to say. When a El Paso team gets past the third round of the playoffs and makes El Paso high school football history idiots like you are going to come on here and say that those out of town teams that the El Paso team beat had major injuries or were not that good that year. Excuses are a dime a dozen and idiots are in adundance in this world and you as well as that Anonymous character are two of them.

Montwood beat Midland Lee no matter how you slice it and dice it. Final Montwood 24 Midland Lee 21.

Parkland beat San Angelo Lakeview no matter how you slice it and dice it. Final Parkland 49 Lakeview 41.

There is nothing you can do or say to change those final scores you idiots. Those finals are in the Texas high school football record books forever and Montwood and Parkland made history in their schools.

When a El Paso team makes it to the State Championship stupidasses are going to say that all the high schools in the state of Texas had an off year. There are alot of stupidasses in the world but a large percentage of them live here in El Paso. When I say stupidasses I mean jealous studpidasses whose teams have not accomplished anything or when they played they didn't make it to the playoffs or past the 1st round of the playoffs.

I think if we could just bring Issac Winters back from washington we could win state i mean he did make it to the U.S. all american combine, only the top 500 players in the nation go. What do Yall think????

Nah he can stay where he is at. Nice knowing him. Time to move on

I think most of you that responded only took a small part of what I said lirerally.
Gotta A Light- You answered your own questions! Would you leave a job to go where things are done backwards and you have no support? You asked me for solutions, I think I gave them, that was the majority of MY OPINION... Reread my post again with an open mind...
Steve and Mongo- you guys call me an idiot for stating the facts. I understand about the winning and losing. I just made reference to the fact that beating a team in the playoffs and going 2 rounds here in ep makes big time news! The expectations is what I was intending to make light of. If a team from ep makes it past the 3rd round it makes HISTORY!! My goodness, back east, if a team doesn't make it to or past the 3rd round, it's considered a disappointing season! Some coaches have even been fired for it! Get what I'm trying to enlighten you guys on? Montwood beat a struggling Midland Lee team and everyone knew that. Parkland beat an ep team, and a San Angelo team that hadn't sniffed the playoffs in over a decade. Not taking anything away from ep teams, but until they can do it on a consistent basis, and in a more dominating factor, then you guys have no right to calling anyone an idiot for knowing more than you guys know. Don't pat yourselves on the back for something that only happens once in every 5-6 seasons. I think you guys close your eyes to what the real problems are in ep football because you have no clue to what makes a program successful. From reading your posts about the topic, it's easy to see why things are so hard to fix in ep. Can I say Narrowminded?! There was more to my post that you guys eluded to responding to. Reread it and learn something... In the mean time, put the word idiot in your back pockets.

Every 5 to 6 years??? What in the hell are you talking about son??? Are you talking about back in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s when El Paso teams could not make it to the 3rd Round consistently??? Times have changed and El Paso teams are doing it consistently in this millennium.

2001 Del Valle made it to the 3rd Round

2003 Riverside made it to the 3rd Round

2004 Riverside made it to the 3rd Round

2005 Chapin made it to the 3rd Round

2005 Franklin made it to the 3rd Round

2006 Chapin made it to the 3rd Round

2008 Parkland made it to the 3rd Round

Oh and another thing. El Paso teams are beating out of town teams more consistently and not only in playoffs but also in predistrict.

Razor do your homework of the last 5 to 6 years. This millennium.

Guru! Is that enough for you? According to you, since 01 to the present there have only been a handful of ep teams make it to the 3rd round. To be precise, 5 teams combined out of 10 or 9 5A schools, and 2 4A districts in ep. Again, I'm talking about a programs' consistentcy. In 01 you have Del Valle, 7 yrs removed. Riverside who I do have alot of respect for,in 03 and 04 did beat some powerhouses and lost in the 3rd round to the eventual state champ that year and played them tough, 4 yrs removed. Chapin in 05 and 06, nothing before and 2yrs removed. Franklin in 05, and nothing before,3 yrs removed. And Parkland this year,and nothing before. And this since the new millennium started?! So what are you saying? That's good?! That's 5 teams in the last 8-9 years to go 3 rounds. Again, that's satisfactory to you?
If you look at programs as a whole back east of here, like the permians, midland highs and lee's, Abilene's, south lakes, trinity,and even the smaller schools like monahans, snyder, sweetwater, crane, andrews,frenship,abilene wylie, etc, you get what I'm saying. Most make it to the 3rd round on a consistent basis. Most of these teams if they are not playing through the thanksgiving holidays, are not even considered a success, and that's by the coaches, player's, and the community! That's because of the expectations they ALL make for the team and the program as a whole... I'm talking about a program in ep making it on a consistent basis doing it. Becoming it's own powerhouse and getting the respect of everyone east of here. Yes, 5 teams have gone past what was EXPECTED of them, but what about the rest? That's my point. You can't be taking turns as to being one of those that goes to the 3rd round and you don't see the 3rd round again for many years. Del Valle is my perfect example. Is the same coach who did it 01 still the same coach today? If he is, he wouldn't be anywhere else. Being a consistent power in ep or a consistent playoff team from ep is NOT enough! You can only win so many district championships when people will start questioning why you can't win in the playoffs. That's when coaches start losing their jobs. Does that happen in ep?
So Guru, raise your expectations and don't be satisfied. This is exactly what I meant in my first post. The mentality. It's not expected, but if you do, good for you!
I know there is good talent here in ep, but ep is it's own worst enemy. Until you start getting Superintendents, Principals, and school boards all on the same page when it comes to athletics, then ep will only have a handful of success and you, the fans, will accept that. And this topic will go on for many more years...

Razor, Since you know so much, tell me this. Does having over 30 schools in one town, play a roll in EP teams not going further into state?

Razor like some have said you are an idiot. Look at the overall high school football teams throughout the state of Texas. Not many high school football teams throughout Texas have even been to the playoffs much less the 3rd round of the playoffs.

Considering El Paso's many terrible unsupportive circumstances and all the politics high school football teams here in El Paso have to endure atleast teams here get to the playoffs and beyond.

Hundreds if not thousands of high school football programs throughout the state of Texas have never been to the playoffs and I'm sure they would love to do what El Paso teams have done.

Do your research and see that lots of high school football programs have not been as fortunate as El Paso teams and other Texas teams that have got to the playoffs.

Canutillo #1 Fan- To answer your question, no it does not make a difference. Did Frenship have an advantage over you guys this year because of this? Remember, El Paso is a huge city with many people in it. So to say having 30 schools makes it harder to win is not an excuse. I would say your enrollment compared to Frenship's is very close, I don't know, you tell me. You're both 4A schools, and I might even go as far to say that your enrollment might be even higher than frenships, again, I don't know...If you look at the Odessa schools that only have 2 high schools at about 2500-3000 students apiece. Are not most of the 5A's in ep around that as well? The reason there is only 2 high schools in odessa is that the population is far less than ep's. Odessa is maybe 1/6th the size of ep. But I've also seen smaller schools with less students still have the success that bigger schools in their same classification don't have. Why is that? Tradition, work ethic, dedication, expectations, an administration that supports the program, a community that supports, great athletic facilities (weight room, practice/game facilities,etc.), athletes taking responsibility for themselves, and the most important, a great offseason program! All schools in the same classifications whether it be 1A to 5A have the same or close enough choice of kids to pick from. In 3A, you can see an exception. I think the cut off is somewhere from 400-950. So a school with 400 students will be in the same district with someone who has double their size. But once again you go with the program and it's success. Many smaller enrollment schools beat teams with larger enrollments.
Until FOOTBALL is KING in El Paso like it is in the rest of the state, fans like you will always be looking for excuses as to why ep can't be successful outside of ep.
I saw the game against frenship and it was apparent that you guys were way out classed by them. And I mean that in a football sense, no disrespect. But if you compared your program to theirs, there would be no comparison. Their kids were mentally and physically more prepared than your kids. Talent alone is not enough anymore to be successful. You have to develop your athletes, and that comes with an offseason program that you have to sell to your kids. And I don't think your offseason is anywhere near that of frenships or for that matter, than anyone's east of you. I may be wrong, but from what I saw, I can be sure to say...

Juco- Let me ask you a question... If an El Paso team wasn't making the playoffs, then who would be? And you're calling me an idiot?!

Razor 15, if you did your research you would've seen that Chapin was opened in 2000, and has only been playing varsity football for maybe 7-8yrs. That's why it was nothing on them before.

Husky Dad- I knew Chapin was a new school, just didn't know for how long. I do know they had some very good teams during those playoff years. Thanks for the info... I don't know why everyone keeps telling me to check my research? I came upon this website and saw the topic, and have been giving my opinion. Not here to research El Paso football. Just stating facts and opinions, but some of you guys, reality is way too much for you guys to handle. Some of you expect the respect without earning it. Maybe in ep, but that doesn't count anywhere else...Solutions might not always be what you agree with, but then again we're stuck with the question as to why ep can't win state. It's becoming more and more apparent each day...

Razor, I am not looking for an excuse or any kind of scapegoat. I asked you for an honest explanation. I do see a lot of points that you make and I do agree that EP students are not that commited yet. But it does look like it is changing. I know our kids started right after the season ended. That is a good change along with the weight training classes that they have to attend.

But on the other hand, I believe I read something out there that there is over 2500 high schools in Texas. How many do you really hear about consistanly? A hand full.

I am not saying El Paso is all this and that, all I am saying is that we are not in the bottom of the barrel either.

But we are chaging!!!

I know Im not from elpaso but I have played El Paso teams in the past. I agree with razor on this one. There are some good coaches in EP, but for the most part there are a lot of bad ones. That hurts a program period. I know cause I have talked to coaches in EP. Remember you play to win the STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS!

Canutillo Fan- I didn't mean to say you were making excuses, just the one's that find excuses and don't listen to what the real problems are in ep football...
I have to disagree with you on the amount of programs that make a run in the playoffs on a consistent basis, and it's way more than a handful! I gave Guru an example of the more successful programs in our immediate area, and I wouldn't say they are a handful. I'm sure you've heard of converse judson and smithson valley in the san antonio area, katy schools in the houston area, corpus christi cal allen, southlake carrol, euliss trinity, and this year's state champ, allen in the dfw area,and many more around the state that have year in and year out strong and successful programs. With all do respect, I think you've sheltered yourself to ep football and you don't quite understand what's going on outside of ep.
Now on the other hand, I'll agree that ep is making some strides, but not at a pace where anyone in ep will be making a trip to the state championship game anytime soon. EP is many years away from that if the same ol trend continues. You can't get there doing the same things over and over again. In other words, if you're in a sprint race, but you jog it, you can't ever think that you'll ever win. You will always lose the race, but the mentality in ep is that eventually you will... And that's rididculous.

Come on Razor, how can you say I am sheltered. Do you honestly think you are the only one that knows what is going around in High School Football in Texas and in El Paso? You are making it sound that everywhere else but El Paso are great. We know that the programs are struggling because of the lack of Coaches, fan support, and the players own initiative to progress. But like I said we are progressing and the kids are starting to catch on to what the rest of the state is doing, well only a hand full. We all know the Katy's, the Southlake Carrols, the Permians, and Euliss Trinity's but what about the rest of the state? Thousands of schools that have not even made the playoffs ever!!! In all divisions!!!

So with all due respect Razor, don't come on here and say I am sheltered with EP Football and that EP Football is way behind when in fact, EP Football is on the rise and we are advancing in the playoffs when the other thousands of schools are still unheard of...

Way to go EP Football!!! Make some heads turn and have them talk about you!!!

Canutillo Fan-I really don't know how to explain it any clearer to you. You really have a false sense of accomplishment. I think you need to go see an offseason workout outside of ep and you'll be shocked as to what the workouts consist of. The hard work, determination, and tradition that the kids all have in them! In fact, in some programs, they have large trash cans all over the fieldhouse and outside so that the kids can throw up in and turn around and continue without missing a beat. And I don't mean they get sick because they're hung over, but because the workouts are that hard. Then you'll come back realizing just how far behind ep is from the rest. It's wishful thinking on your part, and I feel bad for you. You do have the fire and desire for ep football, but saying it and doing it are two different things.
As far as consistent winning programs in the state of texas only being a handful and comparing ep football in the same sentence is ludicrous! I guess you don't understand what I'm saying. Just because you're successful in ep doesn't mean you're part of the elite in the state because you can't and haven't been able to compete with anyone outside the ep area! I can't be any clearer than that! Just because you're undefeated against your sister doesn't mean that your good! In ep standards yes, but the rest of the state, NO!!!!! I've been trying to be nice... Open your mind, you ARE sheltered. You know nothing about the rest of the state!!!!!
Let me ask you a question... Have you ever been to a game outside of ep? I don't mean to watch canutillo. I mean have you gone to watch a permian basin game or a playoff game consisting of two teams not from ep? I quarantee you that you will be amazed with it all. And not just the 5a schools but the smaller ones as well. You can't even compare it to any ep game you've ever been to. I ask you to make plans to go to atleast 2-3 games involving teams not from ep.
-One game you should go to is the permian vs odessa high, it might be hard cuz it gets sold out pretty quickly. People camp out waiting to buy tickets.
-Another is and I'm not sure if it's in odessa, but permian vs Duncanville. It's the first game of the season. Any game between permian and midland high or lee will be good as well.
-Tryout the smaller schools as well. Monahans, sweetwater, snyder, kermit,alpine, pecos,crane, seminole, andrews, midland greenwood, ft stockton,and many more. When any of these teams are playing each other, it makes for great games and great high school football atmosphere. You'll also enjoy the great facilities and stadiums that these teams play in. And they have bleachers on BOTH sides of their stadiums...
AND YOU'LL ALSO KNOW IT'S FOOTBALL FRIDAY WHEN YOU DRIVE IN TO TOWN AS WELL!!

Razor you are an idiot. Are you not reading or are you refusing to read and understand what many are telling you throughout this blog???

"""EP Football is on the rise and we are advancing in the playoffs when the other thousands of schools are still unheard of...""""

Stop comparing El Paso high school programs to ONLY the top programs in the state. If you are going to compare El Paso high school football programs to other football programs around the state then be fair and compare them to ALL, I repeat ALL high school football programs throughout the state.

Idiot compare El Paso high school football programs to those that work their butts off and throw up in trash cans who never make the playoffs. Compare them to those schools as well you true idiot.

Compare El Paso high school football to ALL freaking schools in Texas. ALL of them not only the ones you pick and choose you idiot.

yeah but not every school is dedicated to football only.. and regardless of your opinion, that's all it, is Your opinion.. We are proud of what we have accomplished and we Are getting better and will accomplish more, so why be so negative? We love and are proud of EP. YOU be pruod of your home town and let us be proud of Ours, and by the way succes comes from Being Your Best not being the Best, Because im pretty sure your hometown team is not the best in the eyes of other teams... you stated your opinion now i have stated mine(remember no right or wrong's in opinions, it's what you think and feel)Love all my EP teams regardless of their status cause EP in the house, yeah baby!!!!!!!!!

Razor 15 I'm aware of the tradition and game time atmosphere, and the whole town shutting down for the game. I havn't always lived in EP, I was in the military before moving here. But I do agree with Canutillo #1 fan the attitudes have changed the past 4yrs, eventhough we don't have the resources the aformentioned schools have. We are making do with what we have and throwing away the excuses.

my comment was for Razor 15 ( maybe he,s 15 that's why he's so close minded)

Razor my almost friend, closed minded I am not. I even agreed with you on many points, but come on, don't be the only one that can't understand what we are all saying... I have read all your posts and the rest of the group but you have only one thing on your mind, EP Football is the worst. That the "rest of the state" is in a league of their own. You mentioned a few more schools on your last post. Can you tell me how many State championships each has won?

Not once have I compared EP Football standards with "the rest of Texas". But I will say one thing, we are not in the bottom of the barrel!!!

And I have been to many of Odessas games, so you do not have to be telling me their atmosphere, it is great. Thats why I go!

Now you tell me one thing. Where would you rank EP Football? Be honest. And just don't compare them to the hand full of elite programs that you picked. There are many more schools in the rest of Texas. Not just the ones that have won Championships.

Sherlock- Ok since I am such a big idiot, then you explain to me how ep football is on the rise? Remember, it's ep football vs ep football to make it to the playoffs, so basically ep teams HAVE to make it to the playoffs in these 3 districts. One 5A district and 2 4A districts in El Paso. So what that means is that, (am I going slow enough for you?) in an ALL EL PASO DISTRICT, ONLY EL PASO TEAMS WILL MAKE IT TO THE PLAYOFFS!! FOUR TEAMS IN EACH DISTRICT WILL MAKE THE PLAYOFFS, SO IF YOU KNOW YOUR MATH, THAT EQUALS TO 12!! (ARE YOU DONE ADDING?)...Out of 12 teams that made it to the playoffs this past season (from El Paso), ONE team in the 5A classification in ep made it past the FIRST round, and ONE team out of the 8 teams that make it to the playoffs in ep, made it to the 3RD round. Now if you want to give credit to the 3 others that made it to the second round, they got there cuz they BEAT another EP TEAM to get there!! But only 1 OF THE 4 made it to the 3rd round! And since you are incapable of comprehending anything that's concerning this topic, I'm not comparing ep to only the elite in the state, I'm comparing them to EVERYONE in the state you narrowminded jackass!! Even to the smaller classifications as well!! But the whole point of it all is that you CAN'T compare ep to EVERYONE in the state because most everyone east of here has their acts together! There are many programs that don't make the playoffs, but my point is that a 5th place team in another district could have a very good chance of making the playoffs if they were in the ep district!!! They might even win the district as well!! That's how far ep is from EVERYONE ELSE in the state! Can you understand that you fool!! In ep standards and in your itty bitty brain of yours, yes ep is making strides, but nowhere near that of EVERYONE ELSE!! example: In the past you were making 30s on your tests, but now cuz you're doing a little bit more studying, you brought your test score up to a 50. Is that making strides? Yes that's making strides, BUT YOU'RE STILL FAILING YOU IDIOT!! (My turn to use that word)