BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
Matthew Rokovich has announced his retirement as Donna North’s football coach and athletics coordinator, ending a 34-year career in athletics.
“I feel like this is the time to do it,” Rokovich said.
Rokovich’s career has taken him to nearly every part of South Texas. He started as an assistant at Laredo Martin. He would later make his way to Del Rio, then eventually to the Valley at Donna High and both Weslaco high schools. Donna North was Rokovich’s second stop as a head coach following a three-year stay at Brackettville in the mid-1990s. He also served as an assistant athletic director as well as interim athletic director within Donna ISD.
“This was a tremendously hard decision to make,” Rokovich said. “When you’ve done it for so long and have been in the lives of a lot of children like I have, it’s gratifying to know I’ve had an impact in their lives. I’ve got kids that are all over the United States, from senators to doctors to lawyers and everything in between.”
Rokovich stepped into the Donna North football job in 2016 fully aware of its ramifications. The school was just three years old, and its football program won three games during that span. The Chiefs continued to tread toward the bottom of District 32-5A but did win three games in two seasons under Rokovich’s direction.
“I’ll give you an example,” Rokovich begins. “If you take all the head coaching positions that may change coaches in the state of Texas, about 90 percent of those head coaches have been in their program for three years or more. Now, you’ve got 10 percent left. Eight percent of those coaches that get let go because they may have done something wrong with their program. And then you’re left with two percent, which is full of coaches like me. I got to leave on my own terms.”
Rokovich’s retirement will take effect at the end of his contract with the district, which concludes in June.
“You have dreams and aspirations for the kids and our program, and to not be able to finish our plan is rough, but we’ve set a foundation here,” Rokovich said. “We’ve got some good young kids here that are working extremely hard, and I believe this program is going to turn around big time. I’m sure the district will bring someone in here who does a great job with the kids.
“I told the kids from the very beginning, ‘Myself and the other coaches: we’re not the program. You guys are. You’re the Chiefs.’”