By MARK MOLINA
Staff Writer
In three seasons at the helm of the Hanna Golden Eagles’ football program, coach Mark Guess has steadily turned around the culture and morphed it into one of the Rio Grande Valley’s best.
And while the third-year Hanna coach spent time setting the foundation in his first two seasons with a culture change and the end of a seven-year playoff hiatus, this season has been the culmination of it all.
Guess guided the Golden Eagles to a 10-2 record in 2018 while capturing an undefeated District 32-6A championship — their first since 2009 — and the program’s first berth in what is now the Class 6A regional round, where it fell to San Antonio Brandeis 33-32.
For those efforts, Guess has been named The Brownsville Herald’s 2018 All-Metro Coach of the Year.
“It’s very humbling to be the first to do something,” the Hanna coach said. “In this case, to be the first ones to win a second-round game, and then being able to advance to that third round, is very humbling. It’s hard for me to believe that the Hanna Golden Eagles have never done that before or that the Brownsville Eagles have never done that before. For us to do it with these kids that we’ve had these past few years, I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world. It’s a very, very amazing feeling, and I’m just so happy that I was able to experience it with those kids.”
Guess led Hanna to several signature wins on the season, defeating the likes of McAllen Memorial, 6A state semifinalist Amarillo Tascosa, San Benito, Weslaco East and Eagle Pass along the way.
After the season was over, several Hanna players took home district superlative honors, including Guess, who was named the 32-6A’s coach of the year.
For Guess, it was another accolade to be humbled by.
“They don’t hand those awards out like candy, and some coaches go their whole career without ever getting awards like this,” he said. “I’m always very appreciative when people think that the work I do or the work that my staff and kids do is a great product. We work our whole career and we always push the kids and push the kids, never realizing how much we’re really pushing ourselves. I don’t know if I’ve ever put in as much time as I have this year that I have in the past. It was a lot of fun and probably the most fun I’ve had in 26 years coaching.”
While Guess was humbled by the awards, offensive coordinator Damian Vela and defensive coordinator J.C. Ramirez lauded the work Guess has done with the program during the past three seasons.
“One thing I notice from Coach Guess is that he’s a beacon for the players,” Vela said. “He really attracts and has a lot of charisma. I think that quality that he possesses, having kids drawn to playing for him and almost taking a bullet for him because of that charisma he had is one of the main things that made the season be such a smooth transition. The kids enjoyed being here and, in return, the practices were so much smoother, so much more fun and livelier for the kids.
“In my experience working for Coach Guess, I don’t want to say he’s a player’s coach, but the players really respond to him and the results have been very apparent the last three years he’s been here.”
Ramirez said Guess’ strength was team preparedness, as the staff and team went into every game as confident as can be.
That was easy for the staff and players to buy into because of Guess’ team mentality and the ability to make the hard decisions on and off the field.
“Knowing (Guess) and the type of mentality he brings, which is ‘We first’ rather than ‘I’, he probably hates the spotlight; that’s not his personality,” Ramirez said. “That’s one of the best leadership traits that make him the effective leader that he is. It’s always what the best thing for the team is. Sometimes he was put in the situation to make tough choices. For the better of the team, he’d make the right choices. There were some calls he made that I was glad where he was in the situation to make and not me. He’s got an uncanny ability to make the right call in tough situations on the field and handling everyday situations.”