By JOSHUA McKINNEY, Staff Writer
Mark Guess walked into the Hanna head football coach’s job with short notice.
That doesn’t mean he’s was unprepared for the start of practice.
Guess, who served as BISD’s athletic director for the past four years, took over as the Golden Eagles coach on an interim basis after former Hanna football coach Rene Medrano retired in July. Guess picked up like he never left the game.
The only challenge he’s had this week is learning the names of the more than 150 players who showed up to practice this week.
“I’ve done it for so long, 19 years before I became an (athletic director),” Guess said. “When you step away from it, you get a different appreciation for it. Now, being back in it, boy I haven’t been this fired up in a long time.”
Guess spent one year coaching Brownsville Veterans Memorial before moving to the BISD athletic director position in 2012.
He’s looked for a shot to wear a headset and be the man with play-call sheet for quite sometime.
“I wasn’t dissatisfied being the AD. I didn’t have a problem with it,” Guess said. This is just so much different. I guess, to me it’s more fun being out there with the kids and doing what we do during a whole season and the offseason even, with a football team.
“Once you’ve on the sidelines for 19 seasons, and I was the head coach for 11, once you get away from that you can’t appreciate it until you’re gone.”
The Eagles are installing a new defense more in tune with Guess style, going with multiple fronts while using the same personnel on the field.
The players have adapted pretty quick despite having to learn new front almost every day in practice this week.
“It’s been different but it’s been good,” said senior linebacker Justin McManus. “I came in from Brownsville Veterans (Memorial) after my freshman year and played under coach (Danny) Pardo and coach Medrano for two years. They were good. The transition’s been good. I think it will be different but it will be a good transition for all the guys here.”
The players aren’t the only ones getting a crash course on the new defense. Guess has had to jog his memory a bit on his defensive style and situational game plans, something he hasn’t done in a while.
“Going back to my play book and just refreshing my memory on things, there are some adjustments on things that come back to me once I get into that situation,” he said. “Not being in that situation, sometimes I won’t think about it until it happens and boom, it comes right back to me. There’s been a cobweb here or there but for the most part, I’m still on top of it.”
Joshua McKinney covers high school sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @joshuabvherald.