BY SAUL BERRIOS-THOMAS | STAFF WRITER
ALAMO — When PSJA Memorial senior right tackle Jordan Muller first started playing football, he could barely squat 135 pounds, and his form was terrible.
Today he squats 450 pounds.
Muller didn’t want to play football during his freshman year.
“I first started playing when coach (Michael) Uribe got here, my sophomore year,” Muller said. “In my freshman year, there were a bunch of people who didn’t really care about football (on and around the team). But now that (Uribe) is here, they want us to be good. You can just feel a spark in the air. They want us to be good.”
Muller is part of an offensive line for the Wolverines that could be one of the team’s most valuable weapons.
“To be honest, we are looking much better than last year,” junior quarterback Orlando Muñoz said. “This year, the line hustles to the ball. Last year, we just kind of walked through it.”
Muller remembers those first few days of practice. The conditioning in 110-degree heat drove him to the edge, he said. There were moments that made him want to quit. But he stuck it out and kept working.
“During practice, when you are doing it and you are tired, you are like ‘Oh, I can’t. Why I am I doing this?’” Muller said. “And then, when you are done and you are thinking about it, you are like, ‘Oh, it wasn’t that bad.’”
Beyond a lack of strength or conditioning, what hampered Muller the most was his lack of flexibility.
“When we did pass pro, I struggled,” Muller said. “We are going pass set protection against our D-line, and they are coming at us. When I first started my feet were — like I couldn’t — I just had bad feet.”
Muller said part of why he could barely squat any weight was because his knees couldn’t bend that much.
He got help in that department from a fresh face.
“Coach (Patrick) Boutwell is a new addition to our staff,” Uribe said of the new offensive line coach. “He was a coordinator at Brownsville Pace last year. He worked at Los Fresnos before that. I’m excited about him.”
Boutwell has helped the line already, and that’s only going to continue throughout his first regular season with Memorial.
“Basically, he has brought in a lot of good things, a lot of new good things,” junior right guard Jose Tovar said. “We have been going over a lot of plays, new workouts, new drills. It’s pretty good. He’s a really good coach.”
Muller saw the benefits of the new addition right away. Over the offseason, Boutwell’s workouts helped Muller improve his foot speed, he said. Now, Muller feels very confident in his abilities, and his teammates do, too.
“Jordan has developed really well. He’s been improving a lot on the field,” Tovar said. “That gives me motivation, too. That gives the other guys motivation to get better just like him.”
Another motivating factor along the offensive line is the leadership of junior center Guadalupe Abrego.
“He gives all the calls, and he’s always making sure everything is set,” Tovar said. “I have a lot of trust in him.”
Abrego is a student who takes just as much pride in executing in the classroom as he does on the field. Last year, the first year he was eligible, Abrego made the National Honor Society. The strict guidelines demand he have a GPA above a 3.0, volunteer to do community service and provide to the foundation proof of his leadership and character, according to the foundation’s website.
“Academics has to be a priority,” Abrego said. “If you don’t pass your classes, you don’t play football. So I take that as a priority. I want to be an A student, all A student. I take a lot of pride in it.”
He volunteers at his church. He plays the bass trombone in the band. Abrego inspires his teammates with his character away from the gridiron as much as he does with his achievements on it.
Abrego and his teammates on the line have been gelling in practices this fall, according to Uribe. That has given the rest of the team confidence in the offensive line and the offense as a whole.
“I have a lot of trust in my line,” Muñoz said. “For me, knowing that they are going to give me time to make good things happen is amazing.”
NO DOUBT
After going winless last year, the Wolverines have heard the same refrain countless times: “You guys aren’t good,” or, “You won’t win any games.” This year, they are ready to prove they have learned from last season’s struggles and are ready to compete.
“I have a lot of friends telling me, ‘You guys aren’t going to win any games,’” Muñoz said. “But we know we are going to prove them wrong, win some games and hopefully make it to the playoffs.”
It’s not uncommon for the Wolverines to hear doubt, even in the hallways of their own school.
“The students here, some of them don’t believe in us,” Muller said. “They don’t think we can do it. But I know we can.”
With 23 of the 47 players on the varsity roster in their junior year, the core of the team is maturing. Muñoz, Tovar, Abrego, running back Joaquin Sanchez and Sam linebacker Sal Ramirez are juniors, and they all play pivotal roles on the team this year. If they can break through, they can prove their fellow students and all of the other doubters wrong.
“Not to be mean,” Muñoz said, “but (if we made the playoffs), we would shove it in everybody’s faces.”
DON’T FORGET THE D
Memorial only has 14 seniors on the varsity roster, but the vast majority of the returning starters in that group are on defense. Memorial’s 4-3 is poised to be more of a threat this year. Last year, Memorial’s 393.2 yards per game allowed was the worst mark in the District 31-6A. Uribe said that with the growth and development of his returning players, that group is trending up.
One big part of that is senior Anthony Escalante.
“Anthony Escalante is a three-year starter,” Uribe said. “Our linebackers are all returning starters. You look at linebackers to be leaders, regardless of experience or class. … As a three-year starter, and as a tremendous athlete, I’m looking to Anthony Escalante to take on that leadership role.”
PSJA MEMORIAL’S PROGNOSIS
The Wolverines have 23 juniors on the 47-players roster, including the QB, RB and several offensive linemen. The growth and development of that group will determine the success of the team.
2016 record: 0-10
Returning starters O/D: 6/6
COACH’S TENURE
Coach: Michael Uribe
Year at school: 3rd
Record at school: 2-17