Ray_BearKat
09-16-2007, 02:51 PM
Paul Conatzer/Football Notes/Valley Morning Star
Alex Leal is not going to draw the attention to himself. That’s not his way.
But after picking up the 200th win of his career in emphatic fashion with a win against Brownsville St. Joseph on Friday night, the Raymondville head coach will get a little bit of attention.
And it’s well deserved attention.
The list of high school football coaches in Texas with 200 wins isn’t a very long one, considering the importance that high school football plays in communities across the Lone Star State.
Currently, Leal is just one of 12 active coaches in Texas with 200 career wins. Included in that list is another Valley product, Phil Danaher, who played at Harlingen High. Danaher has a career mark of 324-83-4 and has turned Calallen into a state powerhouse.
Leal is the only one in the Valley with 200 career wins. And there are no coaches anywhere close to him in career wins.
Leal would much prefer the attention to be on his team and probably was glad the Bearkats earned him his 200th victory on the road, so he could just get his team back on the bus and back home to Raymondville and avoid too much of a fuss.
“I don’t want to make too big of a deal out of something like this,” Leal told The Brownsville Herald after the game. “It’s just something that happened because the good Lord blessed me and I was able to do it.”
Yes, Leal is smart enough to know he has been blessed with some good athletes and that Xs and Os can only go so far.
However, he must be doing something right to have won 200 games in the tough world that is Rio Grande Valley football.
After all, you don’t win 200 games because you have good players. You still have to know how to use them and get those kids to play for you.
And that’s something Leal is a master of. His kids love playing for him.
And while Leal didn’t talk to his players about reaching the double century in victories, his players knew about it and did talk about it among themselves.
At the regional track meet this spring, Leal was on the football field at Javelina Stadium hugging the Raymondville athletes after they competed.
“It means a lot to us,” said senior receiver Jake Garcia before the season started. “He’s a great coach. We want to be the team that wins it for him.”
It’s fitting that it was the Bearkats who earned Leal the milestone victory. After all, it was at Raymondville where Leal started his career way back in 1973. He’s coached from one end of the Valley to the other with stops at Port Isabel and Rio Grande City as well as McAllen and Harlingen South.
When Leal first became the Raymondville head coach, Chipper Zamora was coaching at Mercedes. Zamora later became the Harlingen CISD’s athletic director and was involved in hiring Leal as the first coach at Harlingen South.
When Leal retired from South in 2000, Zamora said, “He’s established a successful tradition in all sports. It’s going to be hard to replace him. He’s one of a kind.”
As for me, I’ve known Alex Leal for a long time. He’s always been a pleasure to deal with and he’s all the things a sportswriter can want in a coach.
Sometimes you look for ways to describe somebody and the best thing I can say about Alex Leal is that if I had a son, I would want him to play for Alex Leal or somebody very much like him.
http://www.valleymorningstar.com/pictures/1189920914-b1b.gif
Raymondville head coach Alex Leal holds a plaque and game ball presented to him Friday to honor his 200th career win, which his team earned for him with a 48-0 win over Brownsville St. Joseph.
Alex Leal is not going to draw the attention to himself. That’s not his way.
But after picking up the 200th win of his career in emphatic fashion with a win against Brownsville St. Joseph on Friday night, the Raymondville head coach will get a little bit of attention.
And it’s well deserved attention.
The list of high school football coaches in Texas with 200 wins isn’t a very long one, considering the importance that high school football plays in communities across the Lone Star State.
Currently, Leal is just one of 12 active coaches in Texas with 200 career wins. Included in that list is another Valley product, Phil Danaher, who played at Harlingen High. Danaher has a career mark of 324-83-4 and has turned Calallen into a state powerhouse.
Leal is the only one in the Valley with 200 career wins. And there are no coaches anywhere close to him in career wins.
Leal would much prefer the attention to be on his team and probably was glad the Bearkats earned him his 200th victory on the road, so he could just get his team back on the bus and back home to Raymondville and avoid too much of a fuss.
“I don’t want to make too big of a deal out of something like this,” Leal told The Brownsville Herald after the game. “It’s just something that happened because the good Lord blessed me and I was able to do it.”
Yes, Leal is smart enough to know he has been blessed with some good athletes and that Xs and Os can only go so far.
However, he must be doing something right to have won 200 games in the tough world that is Rio Grande Valley football.
After all, you don’t win 200 games because you have good players. You still have to know how to use them and get those kids to play for you.
And that’s something Leal is a master of. His kids love playing for him.
And while Leal didn’t talk to his players about reaching the double century in victories, his players knew about it and did talk about it among themselves.
At the regional track meet this spring, Leal was on the football field at Javelina Stadium hugging the Raymondville athletes after they competed.
“It means a lot to us,” said senior receiver Jake Garcia before the season started. “He’s a great coach. We want to be the team that wins it for him.”
It’s fitting that it was the Bearkats who earned Leal the milestone victory. After all, it was at Raymondville where Leal started his career way back in 1973. He’s coached from one end of the Valley to the other with stops at Port Isabel and Rio Grande City as well as McAllen and Harlingen South.
When Leal first became the Raymondville head coach, Chipper Zamora was coaching at Mercedes. Zamora later became the Harlingen CISD’s athletic director and was involved in hiring Leal as the first coach at Harlingen South.
When Leal retired from South in 2000, Zamora said, “He’s established a successful tradition in all sports. It’s going to be hard to replace him. He’s one of a kind.”
As for me, I’ve known Alex Leal for a long time. He’s always been a pleasure to deal with and he’s all the things a sportswriter can want in a coach.
Sometimes you look for ways to describe somebody and the best thing I can say about Alex Leal is that if I had a son, I would want him to play for Alex Leal or somebody very much like him.
http://www.valleymorningstar.com/pictures/1189920914-b1b.gif
Raymondville head coach Alex Leal holds a plaque and game ball presented to him Friday to honor his 200th career win, which his team earned for him with a 48-0 win over Brownsville St. Joseph.