By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Los Fresnos has plenty of interest in its opening for a new athletic director/football coach.
The Los Fresnos CISD has released a list of candidates through a public information request, coaches who are hoping to fill the position left vacant when former AD/football coach Clint Finley was hired by Big Spring to take over the same position.
Finley went 47-22 overall in six seasons at the helm, including 33-11 in district. The Falcons went 3-6 in the playoffs and made the postseason in each season under his watch.
The list includes 28 names, and some of them are quite familiar to those around the Rio Grande Valley.
Craig Foster, one of the offensive coordinators on Finley’s coaching staff, is one of the candidates. Foster has helped build one of the more potent offenses in District 32-6A as the Falcons have been near the top in yards and points the past few years, particularly the last two as Los Fresnos earned a share of the district crown each season.
Port Isabel coach Monty Stumbaugh is another candidate. The longtime coach of the Tarpons has won more than 100 games in 15 seasons and seems to always have his teams in the mix for either a district title or the postseason.
Recently, Stumbaugh was angry over a tweet suggesting his time at Port Isabel was coming to a close. Stumbaugh said he was happy and is under contact until June 2017.
Pace offensive coordinator Kenneth Reininger also is on the list. Reininger has been the right hand man for Vikings coach William Deen for the past few seasons.
Reininger seems to get his players to play to their potential and has relied on a run-heavy offense that fits what Los Fresnos does.
The Buffalo Bills’ Travis Bush, son of Bruce Bush, the longtime Texas coach, is another familiar name. Bush is from Texas and was an all-state quarterback at Gregory-Portland before playing football at Texas State. He has coaching experience at his alma mater, TCU and most recently the University of Houston.
Edinburg Vela coach Michael Salinas led the Sabercats to an undefeated regular season in 2015, ultimately losing 49-39 to Austin Vandegrift in the Class 5A Division I regional quarterfinals. Salinas has been the only coach in Vela’s history, taking the team from 0-10 in 2012, to 5-5 in 2013, to 10-2 in 2014 before last year’s 12-1 mark.
A quarterback at Edinburg High during the 1990s, Salinas played at Texas A&M-Kingsville, coached at Sam Houston State and was the defensive coordinator at Harlingen South before arriving at Vela.
Gabe Peña, athletic coordinator/football coach at Edinburg Economedes, was the head coach at Port Isabel from 1996-2000 before taking the top job at Economedes in 2011.
After going 0-10 in his first year, Peña has led Economedes to the playoffs in three of the past four seasons.
Spencer Gantt, currently the offensive coordinator at Victoria East and former coach at San Benito, and Gus Cavazos, who coached at PSJA Memorial from 2008-14 before stepping down last January to lead PSJA ISD’s Safe Schools Initiative, also are applying for the Los Fresnos position.
Cavazos was 68-50 during his tenure at PSJA Memorial, winning a pair of district championships. Prior to PSJA Memorial, he was the head coach at Rio Hondo from 2004-07.
The Los Fresnos CISD didn’t specify how long the interview process would last or when the finalists would be chosen.
Staff writer Greg Luca contributed to this story.
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.
List of Los Fresnos AD/football coach applicants
Jerry Bomar, athletic director/football coach, Orange Grove
Patrick Brown, athletic coordinator/ football coach, San Antonio
Travis Bush, offensive assistant coach, Buffalo Bills
Gustavo Cavazos, director of Safe Schools Initiative, PSJA
Craig Foster, offensive coordinator, Los Fresnos
Roberto Fraga, assistant coach, Harlingen
Jacoby Franks, assistant coach, West Orange Cove
Spencer Gantt, offensive coordinator, Victoria
Israel Gracia, assistant head coach/offensive coordinator, Rio Hondo
Aleander Guerra, athletic coordinator/football coach, Edgewood
Marty Hammond, offensive coordinator/QB coach, Edinburg
Hunter Hamrick, interim athletic director/football coach, Rockdale
Buddy Hardin, athletic director/football coach, Venus
Pete Martinez, co-offensive coordinator/receiver coach, PSJA
Christopher McClanahan, offensive coordinator, Fort Bend Hightower
Gregory Morgan, athletic director/football coach, Madisonville
Gabe Pena, athletic coordinator/football coach, Edinburg
Jose Ponce, freshmen football offensive coordinator, PSJA
Michael Ramirez, athletic coordinator/football coach, Carrollton Farmers Branch
Manuel Ramos, offensive coordinator Pearsall
Kenneth Reininger, offensive coordinator, Brownsville
Mark Rose, football coach, North Jackson (Ala.) High School
Robert Sanchez, offensive line coach, Freer
Michael Salinas, athletic coordinator/football coach, Edinburg
Jason Strunk, athletic director /football coach, Lubbock
Monty Stumbaugh, athletic director/football coach, Port Isabel
Roderick Taylor, offensive coordinator/QB coach, Del Rio
Jesus, Trevino, special teams coordinator, San Benito