By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
Michael Ramirez has backed out from the Hidalgo head football and athletic director job, one week after the school district’s board of trustees approved to hire the former Brownsville Lopez coach.
On Monday, Ramirez traveled from his home in Frisco to the Valley with the intention of signing the necessary paperwork to make official the hire, but later decided “it was just in the best interest of my family not to accept.”
“My wife and kids were excited to come to the Valley, but we had to make a tough decision,” Ramirez said.
“Hidalgo has a great superintendent (in Edward L. Blaha). He does a great job with the kids. It’s a great situation. It just wasn’t the right time.”
Ramirez was approved 7-0 last Monday to assume the position, which would have made him the fourth head football coach at Hidalgo in the past five years.
Instead, Ramirez will return to Carrollton Turner, where he coached the previous two years, leaving Hidalgo in search of a replacement for Taihi Jones, who was reassigned earlier this year after two seasons at the helm.
Ramirez said he never resigned from his post at Turner and will look to return for his third season.
“I wanted to make sure when I came down (to the Valley) that everything was good” before leaving Turner, he said. “That was a huge factor, as well. The kids at Turner definitely didn’t want me to leave. People at Turner have been very, very good to me. And that definitely factored into it, as well.”
“It was a very tough decision,” he added, “but one I had to make.”
Blaha is scheduled to meet with all Hidalgo head athletic coaches today, according to a source.
Dennis Silva II contributed to this report.