After years of being an assistant coach, Zeke Villegas finally gets a shot at being a varsity head coach.
“I’m excited, I’ve been waiting for this,” Villegas said. “I was just waiting for the opportunity to go out and show everyone what I could do for their program.”
Pojoaque Valley High School hired Villegas to be their new football coach. He replaces Pat Mares, who stepped down following the end of the 2022 season, after five years with an 11-31 record, including a 5-4 season in 2021 as one of their best in years.
“He’s going to bring a lot of energy to the team,” said Pojoaque athletic director Mark Mutz. “He’s going to be dedicated and committed, very organized.”
Villegas was an assistant at Capital High School, where he graduated, from 2014 through 2021, including at times the junior varsity head coach and a positions coach. He was also the athletics manager there.
Villegas also is the co-founder and president of the Northern New Mexico Children’s Sports League, which has teams across Northern New Mexico from Questa to Rio Rancho.
“I’ve seen a lot of these kids grow up, I know a lot of these parents,” Villegas said of joining Pojoaque. “I know that there is a lot of potential out there.”
Pojoaque looks to rebound from a tough 0-9 season where they lost every game in a challenging schedule by 42 points or more — one game against Santa Fe Indian School was ruled a no-contest due to rain after falling down 8-7. They struggled after losing a talented group of seniors from the 2021 team, and lost momentum early in the year.
“The big challenges are going to be teaching the kids to win,” Mutz said. “Getting them to believe from the shoulders up is the biggest challenge of any coach starting a new program.”
Last year’s team graduated quarterback Adam Pacheco, a big talent who received college offers, but otherwise brings back most contributors. Villegas is excited about having a team with a year of varsity experience, who now know what to expect.
Villegas created the NNMCSL 10 years ago as a way to create “AAU for football”, and a way to help Santa Fe young athletes play against surrounding cities, not just against others from Santa Fe. The league started the first year with 100 children, and Villegas said it is now up to 2,500, and they have added basketball and volleyball in addition to football and cheer.
He said one of his biggest strengths is the experience in coordinating a large number of coaches and parents.
Villegas said his coaching style is to look to fit the personnel he has. Pojoaque has operated in a pass-heavy system in recent years, but Villegas knows that they also have talented runners in the area, and was surprised by how big the athletes were compared to Capital.
“I’m really confident that we’re going to have a very balanced attack,” he said. “I’m not stuck to just one side.”
Mutz said other finalists for the position were former West Las Vegas coach Adrian Gonzales, Pojoaque defensive coordinator Lew Nelson, and former Kirtland Central coach Jeff Schaum.
Villegas is jumping right in to the job; he has already met with high school and current middle school players to start to learn more about the program, with more than 60 total players. He said he is encouraged by a large group of current eighth-graders who will be freshmen on the team next year.
“These guys already have the size, so that was pretty exciting,” Villegas said. “I told them, now we just have to get the other two elements: the weight room, and get them football smart.”
Another goal for Villegas is to restart the junior varsity program, after they did not play last year, getting an opportunity for younger players to get playing time.
“My main goal is for them just to be proud of where they come from,” Villegas said.