By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Changes have taken place on the football coaching staff at St. Joseph Academy and with the school’s athletic director position as well.
Tino Villarreal, previously the first assistant and offensive coordinator, has been named coach.
Christian Putegnat, the team’s coach the past six seasons, will serve as defensive coordinator, a position he has held before while he was coach, and he becomes the first assistant. Putegnat is adding duties as coach of the baseball team.
Ben Sandoval, who coaches the defensive line on the football team, also has become the school’s interim athletic director. He replaces Teddy Lopez, who it now appears will focus exclusively on coaching the pole vaulters on the track team.
The football team was informed of the changes last week.
“Here, especially at St. Joe, the culture is a little bit different (than at public schools),” said the 34-year-old Villarreal, a 1999 SJA graduate who played on the offensive line for the Bloodhounds under late coach Elvis Hernandez. “If St. Joe was looking for some head coach with 20 or 30 years of experience, then they would probably look elsewhere. But I think they’re excited about (naming) someone who knows the kids, knows the system and understands the culture of St. Joe plus has a vision for the future.
“I would like to spend more time talking about the future than what has happened in the past,” added Villarreal, who has coached football on the junior high and high school levels at SJA since 1999 and became a full-time varsity assistant on the current coaching staff in 2009.
“In reality, Ben and I have been part of this coaching staff for the last six years, and there’s not going to be any major, drastic changes. Coach Putegnat is still involved, which is great because he has a lot of respect from the players. This is more of a change that was made because it was felt that it would be best for the school. It’s more about putting the pieces in the right place, not changing the pieces. There hasn’t been a lot of stability the last few years at the baseball coaching position, and now Coach Putegnat will bring stability to that sport.”
Putegnat, currently on vacation with his family at Lake Texoma on the Texas-Oklahoma border, said he is OK with the new coaching structure, noting that he and Villarreal have worked together closely in the past and should continue to do so.
“I’m content with the changes, and I think it’s for the best,” said Putegnat, a 1988 SJA graduate. “Our program is staying the same (with the same offensive and defensive schemes) only with a different person at the helm.
“Yeah, it might be a little bit of musical chairs, but we’re keeping the integrity of the program going,” he added. “The kids like to see consistency with the same faces coaching them.
“I’m still doing what I do, and that’s coach football. And when the winter and spring months come around, I’ll be coaching baseball. I look forward to that. This is happening now because it’s the best thing for the school at this moment. We do what we do because St. Joe is our love.”
The Bloodhounds are coming off a 5-5 football season and a 1-4 showing in TAPPS District I Division 2 with no trip to the postseason after advancing to the playoffs the previous four seasons.
There’s reason for optimism at SJA for the upcoming season, particularly on offense, where eight starters return including sophomore quarterback Kai Money. As a freshman, Money rushed for 1,211 yards and 10 touchdowns while passing for 1,048 yards and 15 scores in just eight games. There are six starters back on defense.
“We’ve had a lot of great athletes come through our locker room, and right now, the big excitement for me is having an opportunity to coach Kai Money for the next couple of years,” said Villarreal, who is bringing up Sam Lucio from the junior varsity to take his place as offensive coordinator. “One of our main goals is to become more competitive in our district, which is a tough district with schools from San Antonio. And actually, the future for us is to rise above our district (level) and be more competitive at the state level, which means to be able to compete against the Dallas-area (TAPPS) schools (in the playoffs). That’s kind of Part II of what we want to do.
“It’s always a dream opportunity to be the head coach at your alma mater,” added Villarreal, a 2003 University of Texas at Brownsville graduate. “I’m grateful for this chance, and I’m thankful to be working with the coaching staff that we have. We’re not just co-workers and colleagues. We’ve developed a close friendship. One thing I’ve learned is you need great people around you, and what better place to do it than (here) with a supportive administration and some of your best friends coaching alongside you.”
Villarreal patterns his offense around the one used by the University of Oregon. He’s attended clinics there three straight years. Also, Villarreal plans to be the Bloodhounds’ soccer coach at least one more season.
Sandoval is a 1989 Hanna graduate who was a standout as a quarterback in football and as a long jumper/triple jumper in track for the Golden Eagles. He competed in track on scholarship for Pan American University from 1991 to 1993 before returning to his hometown and graduating from UTB in 1995. He started coaching at SJA in 2002. Beginning as a social studies teacher, he is now a vice-principal at the school and has coached on the varsity football team since 2010.
Sandoval said he welcomes the opportunity to be interim athletic director at SJA.
“I’ve been asked to help out with the athletic director’s duties and I’ve undertaken them on an interim basis for the simple reason that I want to make sure we’re going in the right direction in pretty much all the sports,” Sandoval said. “Do I intend to keep the position? It’s basically up to the school. Wherever the school feels like I’m needed, that’s where I’ll go. Right now, the important thing is to continue building on what we’ve got going.
“I really want to get all the team sports together,” he added. “We have a number of part-time coaches. They’re here coaching, but we really don’t see them all the time. I want us to build a strong community within the athletics here and know exactly what the coaches are about, who they are and try to bring them closer together.
“That’s my No. 1 priority and my No. 2 priority is to field competitive teams at the district level and also at the state level (in TAPPS). Our districts are tough, and I want us to take that next step.”
Attempts to contact Teddy Lopez for a comment regarding this story were unsuccessful.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.