NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — Weslaco High’s coaching vacancy didn’t last long as the Weslaco ISD school board suggested and approved long-time assistant coach Roy Stroman’s promotion to the position Monday night at a board meeting.
Stroman has been a part of the Panthers coaching staff since the 2008 season and will replace Michael Salinas who resigned Jan. 8.
Stroman will be the 27th coach in the program’s history.
“I’ve been a part of Weslaco for 10 years, two different types of regimes,” Stroman said. “What people don’t know is our senior group was second-graders when I got here. They’ve come through our football camps.”
Last season’s playoff appearance was the first since 2015, but the sixth time in 10 seasons the Panthers reached the postseason. The trip to the third round of the postseason against Lake Travis was the longest playoff run since 2007.
Stroman explained that his team is still in position to win but his team must handle the transition as well. Former Panthers offensive coordinator Patrick Shelby won’t return due to taking the McAllen High head coach position.
“We had success last year and we’re going to try to keep things as normal as possible,” Stroman said. “It takes several coaches and several coordinators to build what we’ve built, it’s not just one guy or two guys. It’s next man up, that’s our philosophy. We did lose 11 guys on defense and it’s just like we told them ‘We can’t get those guys back so now it’s next man up.’”
The Panthers will return one of the Valley’s most talented signal-callers in junior Jayden Cavazos. The quarterback had 1,263 yards passing and 940 rushing for one of the top offenses in the RGV.
Some members of Weslaco’s returning team attended the meeting to shake hands and congratulate Stroman.
“Coach Salinas did leave the blueprint,” Stroman said. “We just have to trust the process, follow it, get 1 percent better,” Stroman said. “Unity is the secret. Not only with the players, but with the coaches.”
In his acceptance speech, following the board’s closed session and approval of his hire, Stroman mentioned a close call with his health two years ago. He had quadruple bypass surgery.
“The man upstairs said ‘You know what? You’re not ready’ With my faith and the support of my family I know why I’m still here. It’s too make a difference in these kids’ lives and make sure they do something positive for society.”
Weslaco ISD athletic director Oscar Riojas said he was relieved.
“Obviously it’s a very important and very nerve-wracking process,” Riojas said. “It’s such an important position for our schools and students at Weslaco ISD. I’m very thankful for the committee for having put in the time. It takes a lot of time to do this. We had some great applicants but we felt the committee recommended whom they felt was a good fit to our culture.”
Riojas said that losing Salinas in January created a scramble, but his team was committed to moving forward in a timely manner.
“I don’t know whether to argue if it was late in the process or not,” Riojos said. “What we knew we needed to do was work quickly, efficiently and try to find our coach as soon as possible. So that can assure the kids that we aren’t going to miss a beat. We’re going to move forward and we’re going to continue the winning tradition at Weslaco.”