Scoop27
02-18-2016, 01:37 PM
From Palacios Beacon
After a tumultuous three
years at the helm, the Brad
Bowden era as Palacios ISD
Athletic Director and head
football will come to an end
on Fri. (Feb. 19).
Bowden officially submit
-
ted his letter of resignation on
last Wed. (Feb. 10) to PISD
Superintendent Alexandro
Flores with this Friday as his
last day on the job.
“I have enjoyed my time at
Palacios and appreciate the
opportunity to have been the
AD and head football coach.
My decision to step aside
simply came down to what
I believe will be best for my
family and the future of Pala
-
cios,” Bowden said regarding
his resignation.
Bowden was hired in 2013
to replace Mike Treybig
and was at the helm for the
Sharks’ past three seasons,
which resulted in a 4-26 re
-
cord.
To his credit, Bowden’s
football Sharks of 2014
snapped Palacios’ 22 game
district losing streak with a
30-28 win over Industrial.
Ever since Bowden’s ar
-
rival in the City by the Sea,
the road has been rocky to
say the least.
“Obviously my time here
has had its share of tur
-
bulence,” Bowden noted.
“From day one, I feel like I
have been caught in a lot of
the cross fire. There were
pre-existing and emerging
agendas being pursued that
weren’t productive. While I
disagreed with the agendas, I
do think the motives behind
them were purely driven by
the hope of making Palacios
better. We just disagreed on
how to do so. And I believe
that one positive by product
of all the turbulence we’ve
had these past three years is
that more of the community
will become involved, mak
-
ing sure Palacios moves for
-
ward in a positive manner. So
perhaps that can be the silver
lining in all of this. I certainly
hope so because Palacios has
tremendous potential.”
Making the road even
more difficult, according to
Bowden, was the near con
-
stant turnover.
“Since arriving at Palacios,
we have had three superin
-
tendents, new principals and
assistant principals at high
school, junior high and at
Eastside, which is a lot oime.”
“That can create some
positive growth in the long
run but can also cause some
disruptions along the way. I
believe there have been some
fundamental improvements
made throughout the district
and the athletic program.”
“However, I don’t believe
the improvements have been
as dramatic or as quick as
they should have been. In
essence, I believe we have
made 1 years’ worth of im
-
provement in 3 years.”
“I am confident that Pa
-
lacios is in a better position
now to make those dramatic
improvements going for
-
ward. However, I don’t be
-
lieve our community is unit
-
ed in agreement on how to
make those improvements.”
Bowden acknowledged his
tenure had come to a point
where a fresh start was best
for both parties involved.
“Based on my experience in
twenty two years of coaching
and with my history in Pala
-
cios, I believe my window
of opportunity to be 100%
effective here was closing. I
know that I have a percent
-
age of people in the commu
-
nity who strongly support me.
There is also a percentage that
does not. Unfortunately, that
is fairly typical for all Athletic
Directors and football coach
-
es. What is not typical, and
something I believe to be true,
is that my ability to change
opinions or garner additional
support has ended.
“By that I mean, regardless
of what happens on the field
next year, the percentage of
people that support or op
-
pose me won’t significantly
change. If and when a pro
-
gram reaches that point, then
change becomes inevitable.”
“Therefore, I felt like the best
option, for my family and for
the Palacios kids in our ath
-
letic program, was for me to
step aside and allow someone
else to take the reins. I have
enjoyed living and working in
Palacios. I am confident that
if I continued to work here
with our staff, that we would
make more improvements.
However, it would never be
as efficient or as effective as
it could be with a fresh start.
So I simply made a move to
give everyone a fresh start.
I certainly plan to make the
most of this opportunity. And
I hope that Palacios does as
well. We have some really
good kids coming up through
our program right now and
I hope that they achieve all
they are capable of.”
After a tumultuous three
years at the helm, the Brad
Bowden era as Palacios ISD
Athletic Director and head
football will come to an end
on Fri. (Feb. 19).
Bowden officially submit
-
ted his letter of resignation on
last Wed. (Feb. 10) to PISD
Superintendent Alexandro
Flores with this Friday as his
last day on the job.
“I have enjoyed my time at
Palacios and appreciate the
opportunity to have been the
AD and head football coach.
My decision to step aside
simply came down to what
I believe will be best for my
family and the future of Pala
-
cios,” Bowden said regarding
his resignation.
Bowden was hired in 2013
to replace Mike Treybig
and was at the helm for the
Sharks’ past three seasons,
which resulted in a 4-26 re
-
cord.
To his credit, Bowden’s
football Sharks of 2014
snapped Palacios’ 22 game
district losing streak with a
30-28 win over Industrial.
Ever since Bowden’s ar
-
rival in the City by the Sea,
the road has been rocky to
say the least.
“Obviously my time here
has had its share of tur
-
bulence,” Bowden noted.
“From day one, I feel like I
have been caught in a lot of
the cross fire. There were
pre-existing and emerging
agendas being pursued that
weren’t productive. While I
disagreed with the agendas, I
do think the motives behind
them were purely driven by
the hope of making Palacios
better. We just disagreed on
how to do so. And I believe
that one positive by product
of all the turbulence we’ve
had these past three years is
that more of the community
will become involved, mak
-
ing sure Palacios moves for
-
ward in a positive manner. So
perhaps that can be the silver
lining in all of this. I certainly
hope so because Palacios has
tremendous potential.”
Making the road even
more difficult, according to
Bowden, was the near con
-
stant turnover.
“Since arriving at Palacios,
we have had three superin
-
tendents, new principals and
assistant principals at high
school, junior high and at
Eastside, which is a lot oime.”
“That can create some
positive growth in the long
run but can also cause some
disruptions along the way. I
believe there have been some
fundamental improvements
made throughout the district
and the athletic program.”
“However, I don’t believe
the improvements have been
as dramatic or as quick as
they should have been. In
essence, I believe we have
made 1 years’ worth of im
-
provement in 3 years.”
“I am confident that Pa
-
lacios is in a better position
now to make those dramatic
improvements going for
-
ward. However, I don’t be
-
lieve our community is unit
-
ed in agreement on how to
make those improvements.”
Bowden acknowledged his
tenure had come to a point
where a fresh start was best
for both parties involved.
“Based on my experience in
twenty two years of coaching
and with my history in Pala
-
cios, I believe my window
of opportunity to be 100%
effective here was closing. I
know that I have a percent
-
age of people in the commu
-
nity who strongly support me.
There is also a percentage that
does not. Unfortunately, that
is fairly typical for all Athletic
Directors and football coach
-
es. What is not typical, and
something I believe to be true,
is that my ability to change
opinions or garner additional
support has ended.
“By that I mean, regardless
of what happens on the field
next year, the percentage of
people that support or op
-
pose me won’t significantly
change. If and when a pro
-
gram reaches that point, then
change becomes inevitable.”
“Therefore, I felt like the best
option, for my family and for
the Palacios kids in our ath
-
letic program, was for me to
step aside and allow someone
else to take the reins. I have
enjoyed living and working in
Palacios. I am confident that
if I continued to work here
with our staff, that we would
make more improvements.
However, it would never be
as efficient or as effective as
it could be with a fresh start.
So I simply made a move to
give everyone a fresh start.
I certainly plan to make the
most of this opportunity. And
I hope that Palacios does as
well. We have some really
good kids coming up through
our program right now and
I hope that they achieve all
they are capable of.”