A lot of teams in the Texas high school football landscape would be very pleased with a 10-2 record and a bi-district championship. San Benito was one of those teams last season and head coach Dan Gomez was happy with his team’s ability to maintain a “one game at a time focus.” That said, Gomez admits that the end of last season left the Greyhounds wanting more.
“The expectations that we put on the kids and the expectations that the program has are pretty high,” Gomez said, “Fortunately, we won nine during the regular season but we lost the last game and that’s the one sticking in our heads right now and without holding up a few trophies, it’s an unsuccessful season for us.”
That last regular season game is the “Battle of the Arroyo” with the Harlingen Cardinals. This Rio Grande Valley rivalry had plenty of high stakes last season when both teams were playing for a district title in 32-6A. The Cardinals prevailed in a 29-27 thriller and left the Greyhounds disappointed even with the success they had had up to that point.
Those high expectations are part of why San Benito has had a good amount of recent success. In three seasons under Gomez, the Greyhounds are 26-10, including a trip to the third round of the playoffs in 2015. Gomez credits those expectations as well as a culture of building physicality, toughness, and resiliency within his team.
“I believe that kids are resilient and they’ll respond to anything you put towards them,” he said. “One thing about our program is that we don’t promise wins but we do promise them opportunities to be successful and it’s up to them to execute and see how far they get with those opportunities.”
On paper, it appears that San Benito should have those opportunities come next season. The Greyhounds return a majority of their offensive playmakers, including quarterback Erick Retta, running back Tyrone Harper, and leading receiver Isaiah Trevino. Defensively, they lose a little bit more but return leading tackler and first team All-District defensive end Ryan Reza and second team All-District selection Payne Guajardo at safety. That said, no spot is guaranteed for anyone next season.
“As soon as the season’s over, we tell the kids that there is no position that is filled within our program,” Gomez said of his team, “You earn everything you get here with us. The kids fight throughout the offseason, the summer, and through two-a-days to try and win those positions. There’s a lot of work to be done and we as coaches just try to cover it all the best that we can.”
Ask Gomez about his team’s 2017 outlook and he’ll say that it’s too early to tell, putting it simply, “Anybody can look good in shorts and a t-shirt.” But he knows what his returners bring to the table and he wants to integrate the younger players on varsity. Once the pads come out, it’s game on for seeing what the Greyhounds have to offer in 2017 and they’re already hard at work to erase the sting of the end of last season.
“We have to wait until we get the pads on to really start the process of evaluating and seeing who are the guys that we’re going to roll with on Friday nights,” Gomez said on preparing for next season. “We’ve been grinding, keeping the kids humble and they’re hungry to come out and do some things that they should have done last year.”
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