MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
SANTA ROSA — After two months, the Santa Rosa Warriors athletics program has found its new chief.
After being approved by the Santa Rosa school board last Thursday, former PSJA Memorial and Rio Hondo head football coach Gus Cavazos signed his contract Monday to become the Warriors’ new athletic director/head football coach.
For Cavazos, taking this opportunity was a no-brainer as it offered him the chance to get back on the sidelines.
“I live about four miles away from Santa Rosa High School, so I’ve always kept an eye on Santa Rosa,” Cavazos said. “At this stage in my career, I think it’s a good fit. I missed coaching quite a bit.
“I really enjoyed my job at PSJA (Memorial) and I appreciated the opportunity, but when you get an opportunity to coach in your front yard, so to speak, it’s just too great an opportunity for me to pass up.”
Cavazos spent seven year at PSJA Memorial and four years before that at Rio Hondo before stepping away from coaching last year to become the director of the Safe Schools Initiative for PSJA ISD last January.
In 2007, Cavazos led the Rio Hondo Bobcats to their first 11-win season in the program’s history and in 2010 he led PSJA Memorial to the program’s first nine-win season.
Cavazos boasts a 68-50 career record and a pair of district titles, which was one of the reasons the Santa Rosa school board liked the fit.
“The committee met and reviewed some applicants, but I think (Cavazos’) experience and success at previous school districts was a highlight for us,” said Santa Rosa Superintendent Heriberto Villarreal.
Cavazos will hit the ground running as he is set to begin work in early March. Despite the quick start, he is confident in the coaching staff he is set to work with and excited to be working with a small, but close community.
“You want to see your programs succeed and a lot of them have done well, and we’ll continue to support them,” Cavazos said. “If there any programs in need, we’ll need to address that once I’m there, but there are good people there along with great kids and the community is fantastic. It’s near my house, so I go there often.
“Any time you have a smaller town, everyone wants to be part of it and that’s what I’m looking forward to the most.”
Cavazos’ hire comes after the board informed now-former AD and head football coach Arturo Garcia in December that he would be reassigned.
The football team missed the postseason this past season for the first time under Garcia.
In 2013, Garcia led the Warriors to the playoffs, a district title and was named the RGVSports.com All-Valley Coach of the Year.
With Garcia as the AD, all team sports made the postseason during the 2014-15 school year.
Villarreal, however, said that “there were situations that occurred” and that the school district “needed to go in a different direction.”
Villarreal would not comment further on any specific details.