MARK MOLINA | STAFF WRITER
Port Isabel senior safety Jake Pinkerton has seen it all during his time with the Port Isabel High School football program, entering when the Tarpons were under now-Hidalgo head coach Monty Stumbaugh and through Jaime Infante’s one-year stint in 2017.
Now that head coach Jason Strunk is in his second year, Pinkerton believes he, as well as the team, is in a good spot to thrive and build on the program’s new foundation.
“The changing of coaches year after year normally disrupts the team,” the senior safety said. “With coach Strunk, he’s been here for two years and it feels like we’re on a whole new track. Everything is working out good now and we all work as a team really well. We’re all disciplines, everyone is on the ball and we’re ready to go for the rest of the season.”
While Pinkerton is quick to credit Strunk, the second-year coach said having quality players like his safety leading the way has helped the program turn things around in the last year.
“The thing about Jake is he’s selfless,” Strunk said. “He’ll sacrifice everything for the good of the team, that’s why he’s a captain. He’s one of the hardest workers we have and he’s a smart kid who is good in the classroom. He’s just good all around on and off the field. He’s the perfect leader for us. He keeps us stable, he’ll get after people and he’ll wake people up as well. He has all the traits you’re looking for in a captain.”
For Pinkerton, the revolving door of coaches helped him and the rest of the upperclassmen grow up in the program quicker and become leaders.
“Having different coaches teaches you to lead on your own and amongst yourselves,” Pinkerton said. “The coaches can only coach us so far. It’s really the team that leads the team. Just having everyone with the same mindset, that’s what really helps us I think. Altogether we’re a unit and it’s not just me; I couldn’t tell you how many captains are on this team. We’re all leading everyone individually in our own little way.”
Pinkerton’s way is by leading a young secondary, which is coming off a rough outing in a blowout loss to La Feria last week.
Pinkerton takes pride in the rich history behind the Seawall defense and is hoping he can mold the underclassmen to live up to the program’s standard like the seniors did for him when he was just coming into the defense.
“The corners that we have are younger kids who are in their first or second years on varsity,” Pinkerton said. “They’re new to stuff, but for me, it’s fun to teach them like a younger brother and guide them to get where they need to go and along the way. I had seniors telling me the same thing, so I’m just trying to give them back the same guidance that the seniors gave me.”
In Strunk’s eyes, his secondary is trending upward and he believes that by the end of the non-district season, those players will be ready to compete when the game’s matter and Pinkerton will be at the forefront of it all.
“Jake is very good being the veteran that the young guys look up to,” Strunk said. “He’s a three-year starter. He does a lot of coaching there in the back end and we’re going to get better as we go. By the time we get to district play, they’ll be like seasoned veterans and that’s because of Jake’s leadership.”