Seven adults, four kids, and two dogs. That was our living arrangements three years ago. Some people would cringe at the thought but it was one of the best times in our life. So how did we get there?
In 2013 H got his first job in Crane, Texas as a Wide Receiver/Defensive Backs Coach, I was still in college at the time. I would drive down every weekend to see him and watch the games. The next year I graduated college and also got a job in Crane teaching ag. At the end of this season, despite their success, their head coach and athletic director got reassigned and informed H that the new athletic director was going to need his position.
I still remember the day H came into my room eighth period, which is the same period as varsity athletics, and knocked on the door. Immediate red flag. We walked into the hallway and he informed me of what they just told him, we had to find new jobs. Well, I guess technically I didn’t have to but he did. So we started the application process. I think we each applied at twenty different schools apiece. It was a hard time for him because he only had two years under his belt and hadn’t made that many connections in the coaching world yet.
I got the first call from a school district in the same town that grew up in to teach ag for them. It was a no brainer for me if they were to offer me the job because 1. it was close to my family and 2. I was going to get to work with a family friend and an awesome principal who I was familiar with. Within a few days H got a call for a job, with a district in the same area, but he was going to have to be a junior high coach and that did not sit well with him. He still went in for an interview because at this point, this was the only option that he had.
H went and interviewed and had an instant connection with the athletic director. He got a call a couple days later and received the news that he had secured the job. So in 2015 H was a junior high coach coaching three sports in La Vernia, Texas and I was in Poteet as an agriculture science teacher. Teaching at different schools wasn’t an ideal situation but it was doable.
That year was one of the toughest but most rewarding for H by far. He worked his tail off to prove to his athletic director and head coach that he was worthy of being moved up to a high school position. With the permission of his boss, H showed up to every football meeting, was the only junior high coach that voluntarily worked on Saturdays, even after he had to stay up most of Friday night and complete his assigned coaching duties. He did everything possible to prove that he deserved it.
That Thanksgiving, when the football season was over, he informed H that he indeed would be moving up to the high school next year to be his linebackers coach. But that wasn’t where it ended. Spring rolled around and everything changed….
