ROY HESS | Staff Writer
Life beyond coaching football is going well for Rene Medrano.
It was a significant change for him not to be on the Hanna sideline during the just completed 2016 high school campaign as for 35 years he had coached the sport every season but this past one.
Medrano said his voluntary move away from coaching and teaching, a decision he announced six months ago, has brought about a smooth transition into retirement.
“After so many years of coaching football, it’s really been an interesting time for me this fall,” he said. “Having gone through all the work of preparations, practices and meetings (that it takes to get a team ready for a game), it’s really been different not to do all that now. But it’s been a good different.”
Upon giving it a lot of thought, Medrano decided 35 years was enough and turned in his resignation as Hanna’s head coach in late June.
Medrano directed the Golden Eagles four seasons (2012-2015). He was the head football coach at Pace for 14 years (1998-2011) prior to his move to Hanna. Before his time with the Vikings, Medrano served as head baseball coach and varsity football assistant at Porter (nine years, 1985-1993) and then at Harlingen High (five years, 1993-1998). Even earlier, he was at Porter as an assistant coach in baseball and football (1982-1985).
Overall, Medrano compiled an 89-99 record as a head football coach with seven trips to the playoffs. He finished with a 188-77 mark as a head baseball coach with 10 trips to the postseason.
He was named The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro coach of the year in football five times (2000, 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2011) while at Pace and received the All-Valley coaching award in 2000.
In 2009, Medrano was nominated to be president of the Texas High School Coaches Association and finished as runner-up in the voting.
He guided Pace to the playoffs five straight years (2007-2011), which appears to be a record in football for Brownsville public schools.
It all began for Medrano in 1981 at Faulk Middle School, where he started off as the seventh grade basketball coach and an assistant in football.
“I’ve always felt that if you are going to lead anyone such as young athletes and assistant coaches, you have to lead by example,” Medrano said. “I’d always be the first one at work. The idea of not being successful is something that has made me want to outwork everybody in order for that to never happen. My saying is: ‘It’s better to be an hour early than a minute late.’ That was me.”
The 57-year-old Medrano graduated from Hanna in 1977, played two years of baseball at Texas Southmost College and continued his college baseball career at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton before graduating in 1981.
That was 35 years ago. A new life away from coaching has begun that now includes more time for hunting and fishing among other things.
“People see me and ask, ‘So what do you miss (about coaching)?’” Medrano said. “I miss the athletes and coaching them plus being there with the other coaches and getting together in our meetings to do planning for what we’re doing day in and day out. You sort of miss that, especially when you’ve done it for so long.”
Yet, the benefits of the retired coach’s new-found freedom far outweigh the alternatives.
One of the main things Medrano likes most about not being tied to coaching anymore is enjoying more time at home with his wife, Ida, and their special needs adult son, J.R. He also tries to be available for his mother (Hortencia Medrano) and his two brothers (David and Joe Medrano). His father, Joe Medrano Sr., is deceased.
“Spending more time with J.R., that’s always great,” Medrano said. “You tend to take something like that for granted when you’re coaching because you’re always gone. (Having more) time with Ida and J.R., and spending time at the house, it’s been a big, big change, but it’s been a positive change. It really has.”
Another nice thing is having Friday nights open. It has allowed him to go see another son, Joe David Medrano, who coaches the running backs for the Rockport-Fulton Pirates. This is Joe David’s third year on the coaching staff at R-F. He’s a 2006 Pace graduate who played two years on the varsity on defense for his father a decade ago.
“I’ve been able to be there for my son’s games, and I’m really proud of him,” Medrano said. “He’s doing great and his (coaching) career is taking off. Rockport-Fulton has a very good program. I’m glad he’s over there. They went two rounds in the playoffs this year and lost to the defending state champion. I just want him to enjoy what he does.
“In a sense, these last few months I was away from football, but then again I wasn’t, you know,” Medrano added. “After games, the first thing Joe David always asked me was ‘What did you see?’ I’m in the stands now, so I have a little different view of things.
“The majority of the time (on Fridays) I was over there watching Joe David’s team. I did get to see a few Brownsville games. I sat in the corner (at Sams Memorial Stadium) and just watched. It’s not really the same (as coaching), but it’s fun. Especially in Joe David’s games, I still get caught up in it all (with the play calling and coaching strategies).”
At the end of the day, the longtime coach counts his blessings.
“I feel very fortunate that God has led me down the right path,” Medrano said. “Regrets? None whatsoever. Up to now, things have been going great. If I had to do it over again, I’d choose the same highway.
“I go places and sometimes I see players I coached 30 years ago,” he added. “You know you’ve done your job when they make it a point to come up and say thank you. To me, that means everything. It makes every hour and every minute you’ve spent coaching all worthwhile.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess