Eric Pichardo is still just settling into his new office at R.E. McKee Stadium at Austin High School in El Paso. It’s all part of transitioning from his old defensive coordinator job at El Paso Bowie to his first head coaching job. But, after being named the new head coach of the Austin Panthers last week, embracing challenges is part of his reasoning from coming over from district rival Bowie High.
“There were a lot of different things, but the biggest thing that appealed to me about this job was the challenge to turn a program around,” Pichardo said, “After turning it around at Austin the last time I was here and then at Bowie, I want to see if I could do it a third time and I love the kids and the community here.”
Pichardo walks into the Central El Paso school knowing that it isn’t an easy fix. The Panthers have gone 3-37 in the last four seasons and have had consecutive winless seasons in 2015 and 2016. They also have not made the playoffs since 2009. In order to change their fortune, his first job is to make sure the team buys in.
“We have to start with the mentality. It has to change,” Pichardo said, “That’s where I’m going to start with my team. I’m going to make them believe that they can win and succeed. Everything else comes after that.”
Pichardo hopes that his second stint at Austin will go as well as his first one did. He was an assistant under then-head coach Ruben Batista and worked as an assistant coach with Robert Padilla, the current Bowie head coach.
When asked Pichardo’s hire last week, Padilla said of his former assistant “I’ll be cheering for them every week except one. I think Austin got the best coach possible to get things turned around.” Bowie and Austin both compete in District 1-5A.
The two had been on the same staff for nearly 20 years and now that Pichardo going on to his own head coaching spot, he hopes to take what he’s learned from Padilla with him.
“The biggest thing I learned from Coach Padilla was how to approach a situation with class, grace and dignity,” Pichardo said, “Those are three words that I can attribute to Coach Padilla and that’s one thing I’m going to carry with me as long as I coach.”
As for his new team, Pichardo says that his new team has been very receptive to his plan for the program. When it comes to how the Panthers look on the field, Pichardo says the offensive system won’t change too much from the past. Austin has been known as a run-first offense, and the new head coach says they will run the “Pro-T” offense which has some similarities as the old-school “Wing-T” offense but with more passing involved.
As Pichardo finishes his first full week on the job, he feels reassured knowing he has the support of the school and community and is ready to get to work to build the Panthers back into a winning program.
“From teachers, administration, and the student body, I’ve been getting a lot of support. I’m looking forward to the challenge of bringing the community here a winner.”
