With under a month to go before the start of the fall sports season, the Española Valley High School football team will be looking for a new head football coach.
Miguel Medina, who had two stints as the head coach with the Sundevils, submitted his resignation letter to Española Valley High School athletic director Theresa Flores on Monday.
In the letter, Medina specifically cited personal, professional and physical issues as the reason of his resignation. Among them were his struggle of going through a divorce and his unsuccessful attempts to get a full-time teaching job in the Española School District.
Medina did not return a phone call or respond to a text message on Tuesday.
“My professional life as a coach has been hindered by the fact that I am not a certified teacher, and employment in the district has been difficult,” he wrote in his resignation letter. “My health is also currently at risk due to high blood pressure and arthritis issues. My doctor has warned that stroke is imminent if my pressure does not get under control.”
Flores said she planned to meet with the rest of the coaching staff on Tuesday night to address the situation. Medina cited in his letter that he hopes his assistant coaches — exclusively naming Delfino Quintana — stay on as interim coaches and that he is willing to help in any way he can with the transition.
“Delfino knows the team and how to run our system,” Medina wrote. “He has been with this group of young men since the 7th grade.”
Flores said Medina’s recommendation is the direction she and superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez are hoping to take, as well, given the quick turnaround from now until official practices start on August 5.
“More than likely, we may have to appoint someone on an interim basis,” Flores said. “I’ll plan on meeting with them (coaches) sometime this evening and then talk to Mrs. Gutierrez about our next steps.”
Gutierrez said Medina was one of the main substitute teachers last fall for a business class, but the High School recently hired a full-time teacher for the position. She said he also worked with the Gear Up program, about which she heard nothing but positive things.
“I heard about a week ago from Mrs. Flores that he might be resigning, but we weren’t hearing from Miguel,” Gutierrez said Tuesday. “I reached out to him and finally heard back about a week ago. He did text me back and told me he planned to resign. I told him I wish he would reconsider that because he’s been great with the kids here.”
While Medina led Española to a 3-7 record a season ago in his first year back in his second tenure, nothing outshined his efforts with the 2015 team.
That season, the Sundevils won a school-record nine games and captured their first district title, made their first playoff appearance in 23 seasons, Marcos Flores was crowned the Male Athlete of the Year by the Santa Fe New Mexican and Medina was named the District 2-5A Coach of the Year and the NMPreps 5A coach of the Year.
“My resignation comes with an extremely heavy heart,” Medina wrote. “Football has been my life since I was 8 years old. It saved me from the streets and gangs that plagued our communities in the 1980s. It readied me for life in the military where I served in Desert Storm, Bosnia and Haiti honorably. I believe the sport has the ability to help our youth become dependable citizens, and future leaders in our community. It unfortunately has taken its toll on me over the past 3 years, and I must step away and get my life, and health in order.”
This marks Medina’s second resignation as the head football coach at Española. After holding the head coaching position from 2012-2015, he resigned in 2016 after the District fired Gutierrez after the completion of her investigation into former boys basketball coach Richard Martinez.