DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
Don’t try selling Friday’s game at Mercedes to McAllen Rowe defensive coordinator Michael Uribe as any typical ho-hum non-district contest.
Uribe spent the previous nine years coaching in Mercedes, including the last five at the helm of the Tigers, before he was reassigned early this year because of “professional issues.”
“It’s emotional,” Uribe said. “One of the best things about Mercedes is the relationships I built with several people there. I made a lot of friends, not only professionally but personally. The seniors there now were in elementary when I started.
“I’d been part of the program their entire Tiger lives.”
But come 7:30 Friday, Uribe has to put all of that aside. He leads the defense for a 1-0 Warriors team going up against a 0-1 Mercedes unit.
“I have to separate my personal feelings and make sure I maintain my professional obligations,” Uribe said. “At this point and time, I’m a Rowe Warrior and I’m trying to beat a team I was with the last nine years.”
Uribe has come to accept the ominous way things ended at Mercedes.
“Especially early, it was hard for me to understand what was happening and why,” he said. “I thought I was doing a good job, being successful and acting in the best interest in program, and when you feel that way, you could ask, ‘Why me?’ But God has a plan for all of us, and this path was placed on me. I stopped questioning why and started focusing on what I needed to do to be a good father, a good man, a good coach. You can’t focus on the negatives.”
Uribe has barely been with Rowe more than a month. His first day with the team was the first day of two-a-days on Aug. 4. Since then, he has installed a new scheme — a 4-3 opposed to the Warriors’ old 3-4 — and acclimated quickly to his new kids.
McAllen Rowe earned a 48-28 win over Edcouch-Elsa last week, with the defense stifling the Yellowjackets’ offense.
“The kids played hard. They came out and executed well early, and as things got tighter we kept fighting,” Uribe said. “I liked our aggressive nature.”
Uribe knows what he’s going against in Mercedes’ offense, which had a down night last week in a 28-0 loss to Calallen. The Tigers still boast the Valley’s top returning passer in Rene Presas and its top returning receiver in Joshua Garza.
“It’s scary, because you know what they’re capable of,” Uribe said. “You see what’s on film and you know there’s more they have in their back pocket. You know what’s possible because you know better.”
Mercedes, meanwhile, is taking this like any other game. Coach Roger Adame Jr., formerly Uribe’s first assistant and defensive coordinator, would have it no other way.
“We’re just trying to get this team ready to compete,” Adame said. “We’re so focused on the game plan that you can’t sit back and think of all the other things.
“I’m sure the kids are aware of (Uribe). It’s not something we’ve mentioned, and we haven’t put any particular emphasis on it.”
All the Tigers can think about, Adame said, is the bad taste left from last week. Rectifying that includes winning the third-down battle and being sure tacklers against an explosive Rowe team.
“You can see they have a bitter taste in their mouths,” Adame said of his team. “Last week stung. Now it’s about seeing how they respond.
“It’s been lingering and they can’t wait to get on the field.”