By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Brownsville Veterans Memorial will soon be searching for a new defensive coordinator.
The Chargers’ Larry Vincent is leaving to take the head coaching position in the Falfurrias football program after six years at Brownsville Veterans. He was one of the original coaches on Mark Guess’ staff when the school opened six years ago.
Vincent has been a coach for 30 years for nine different schools, including a two-year stint as head coach at Bishop High School.
Although a difficult decision, Vincent felt it was the best decision for his family, which includes three children in college.
“I wanted to get back to being a head coach and its responsibilities, but it’s hard to leave (Brownsville Veterans),” he said. “I grew up about 20 minutes from there. The small town setting suits me a little better.”
Vincent will take over at the helm for the Jerseys starting next week. Taking the job at Brownsville Veterans gave his wife a chance to be closer to her family in Edinburg. This new opportunity at Falfurrias gives Vincent the chance to get back to his own roots.
“It felt right,” he said. “It’s a small ranching and farming community, I can relate to the kids because I grew up there. It felt like all the stars aligned.”
With Vincent leaving, it also leaves a vacancy in Brownsville Veterans coach David Cantu’s staff. Cantu knows it won’t be easy to replace what Vincent brought on and off the field every day.
“Coach Vincent has been here since the beginning,” Cantu said. “I’m going to miss his leadership as a coach. His shoes are going to be difficult to fill. He’s a man with a lot of integrity. He coaches football, but he teaches the kids about life. It’s a big loss.”
Vincent said he has learned a lot from Cantu, especially with matters not relating to football. He hoped to bring some of that knowledge with him to his new position.
“Coach Cantu is a great guy and a great coach. He really does an excellent job,” Vincent said. “It’s been a great experience; it is a tight-knit (coaching) staff.”
Leaving the coaching staff was hard enough, but leaving the players is going to be worse, Vincent said.
“These kids were special,” he said. “It feels like I’m leaving part of my family.”
Vincent said to leave a school like Brownsville Veterans was extremely difficult because it was a genuine place and a great place to go to work every day because of the staff and the students.
“There are some really great people and they love the kids, you don’t always get that,” Vincent said. “This is a special place and the kids are blessed to be here. It’s a great place to be. It seems like there isn’t one person here that doesn’t genuinely care for these kids.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.