Paul Roybal signed the necessary papers, Monday, with Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez, and just like that, he was journeying to the state’s coaching clinic in Albuquerque, with the title of athletic director of Española Valley High School.
“I guess it (the interview) went pretty good … they offered me the job and I accepted,” Roybal said.
He will take over from interim athletic director Theresa Flores, who has an eight-week contract, which started in early July. Flores was charged with the hiring of spring sports head coaches, several assistant coaches and closing the books on the 2016-2017 school year, among other things.
Under Gutierrez’s organizational structure for the District, Deputy Superintendent Leslie Romero-Kilmer will be in charge of the athletic director, and Roybal will report directly to her.
The 57-year-old was excited for the challenge that the job will offer, as he was looking for a project worthwhile to finish his career.
“There’s a lot of things that need to be fixed, but also there are a lot of good things in the District,” he said. “The number one thing, this comes up with every person I talk to, the resounding number one thing is the kids.”
One week before signing the paperwork establishing him as the new athletic director, Roybal went in for his initial interview, before a committee of 11 interviewers, including two student-athletes.
He was competing with Michael Torrez, a District teacher, for the athletic director position. Torrez was the only other applicant interviewed.
“He (Roybal) was clearly the number one choice of the committee,” Gutierrez said. “I think the committee knew it was going to take someone with skill and experience to rework the athletic program at the high school.”
Flores was also an interview committee member and she echoed the same sentiment as Gutierrez, saying she was impressed with Roybal’s interview and that he seemed “very knowledgeable.”
Roybal was born in Las Vegas, N.M., but moved to Texas at the age of two. He spent a majority of his young life in Texas. He maintains ties to Northern New Mexico with family that still lives in the Las Vegas area, and he owns a cabin in Angel Fire.
Roybal is currently searching for housing in the area, so he can move his family from Hobbs.
Roybal has lived in Hobbs since 2002, when he moved to New Mexico to work at Hobbs High School, as a physical education teacher and the head football coach. He moved on from that position in 2009, in order to pursue his career in educational administration.
So, he then landed a gig at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, starting as the director of energy technology, before he was promoted to the vice president for student services in 2013.
Prior to working at Hobbs High School, Roybal was the athletic director and head football coach at Skyline High School in Dallas, Texas.
In August, Roybal will graduate with a doctorate in educational leadership from Capella University, an online program based out of Minneapolis. He said he is getting his doctorate in honor of his mother and father, both of whom stressed education because they never went to college.
Roybal said he wanted to take the position at Española because he wanted to get back to the realm of athletics and also work in an administrative capacity.
“Athletics has always been my love,” he said.