GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
HIDALGO — When Monty Stumbaugh found out in January that his contract would not be renewed after 16 years at Port Isabel, he immediately started looking around for other options.
His ideal scenario was finding a head coaching job in the Valley, which would allow him to stay close to his family. If that didn’t come together, he would look around the state, or at a coordinator position, or at an assistant coaching position, or even at the possibility of stepping away for a year. He admits the whole process was a little worrying.
Any concerns Stumbaugh might have had were put to rest on Monday, when he was named the new head coach at Hidalgo during a special board meeting for the Hidalgo ISD Board of Trustees.
“You want to get in somewhere and start doing what you want to do and get the staff and kids accustomed to what you’re going to do,” Stumbaugh said Tuesday. “The sooner you get in, the better. So I was lucky that it was able to happen pretty quickly. I’m lucky I was able to get the opportunity at Hidalgo.”
Stumbaugh was let go at Port Isabel after reaching the playoffs 14 times in 16 seasons, amassing an overall record of 123-64. In 2016, the Tarpons went 9-2 and claimed a District 16-4A championship.
Port Isabel superintendent Lisa Garcia told The Brownsville Herald only that it was “time to go in a different direction.” Stumbaugh offered little further explanation as to why the school chose not to retain him. He said he was thankful the district gave him his first opportunity to be a head football coach and athletic coordinator 16 years ago.
“All I’m going to say is I was there 16 years,” Stumbaugh said. “A lot of good kids there. A lot of great memories. I raised practically most of this town. They were good to me, and I’ll just leave it at that.”
Stumbaugh fills the vacancy left by former Hidalgo football coach and athletic director David Duty, who was reassigned in January.
Stumbaugh becomes the fifth coach at Hidalgo in seven seasons. During the past three years, the Pirates are 4-25. In 2016, Hidalgo went 1-9 and 0-4 in District 16-4A, being outscored 431-85 on the year.
“I don’t really know what’s happened necessarily there, but it’s about attitude, I think,” Stumbaugh said. “Getting kids to believe in what you’re doing. If you get kids to believe in what you’re doing and to buy into what you’re doing, good things can happen. That’s what you have to do. Hopefully, they’ll buy into it. And go all in. if they go all in and buy into it, we can turn it around.”
Stumbaugh said his next step is to start building a staff and evaluating the players in the program. He said his system will be tailored to suit the strengths of his athletes, though he added that he’s always favored a strong running game and stout defense.
“That’s one of the big things: They have numbers,” Stumbaugh said. “They have a lot of athletes over there, and I think there’s a lot of possibilities over there to have a really good program.”