Special To The MonitorRaymondville football coach Alex Leal
The 100 Greatest - No. 2 Coach: Alex LealAugust 1, 2008 - 9:04PM
Brian Sandalow / The MonitorIn Alex Leal's living room at his Harlingen house, there's a smallish painting depicting him as coach at Raymondville.
When Leal looks at it, the pride he gets from having it is obvious. As if it were painted by one of his sons, he proudly points out the details, which include a watch and honor decals on a player's helmet.
The painting was presented to him this spring by Raymondville athlete and junior-to-be Rocco Cantu. Cantu, however, isn't a football player - he plays golf.
Leal, who was voted the second-greatest coach in the history of Rio Grande Valley high school football, obviously has made an impact on Cantu's life, and that is without having coached him on the field.
In 29 years of coaching and 205 victories, Leal also has impacted the lives of many players in two stints at Raymondville, a one-year stay at Rio Grande City, a three-year run at Port Isabel, an eight-season stint at McAllen High and a seven-year tenure at Harlingen South.
"To be honest with you, all I tried to do was do my very best at whatever we did," Leal said. "I hope I can be remembered as somebody that was fair to everybody. Hopefully I don't have an enemy out there, because I never tried to run up scores on anybody. I've always been a regular Joe.
"If I've been able to win, it's because I've had great kids, great coaches, great administrators and so forth that supported me."
One of those administrators, McAllen ISD Athletic Director B.R. "Poppy" Rodriguez, remembers Leal's time at McHi fondly. But that's not just because of the Bulldogs' success, which culminated in a trip to the third round of the playoffs in 1992, Leal's final season in McAllen.
It's also because of the way Leal treated his players, which Rodriguez said was the way Leal would want to be treated.
"Two of my sons played under him, and they just loved him," Rodriguez said. "He was that type of guy. Of course, you're never 100 percent with all kids, but the time he was here was very dear to us. He was a total family man and a good person. He brought the best out of kids."
Leal, though, isn't the only nice guy to coach in the Valley. There have been others, but few have accomplished as much as Leal has during his career.
During his first stint at Raymondville, Leal led the Bearkats to three straight playoff appearances before heading to Rio Grande City, where he spent one losing season. Then in 1982, Leal succeeded Tommy Roberts at Port Isabel, helping the Tarpons set a Valley record for consecutive district wins with 46.
After three successful seasons at P.I., Leal moved to McHi for eight seasons and then startup Harlingen South, where in 1995 he led the Hawks to their first district title before leaving after the 1999 season.
Now back with Raymondville for a second time, Leal wants to continue building his legacy the way he established it.
"I think I've touched a lot of kids by my advice and by the way I conduct myself," Leal said. "I hope that I've been a good role model for everybody; teachers, administrators, coaches and players.
"It's like somebody said the other day, ‘You must really like the limelight.' And I said, ‘Limelight my foot. I could care less about seeing my name in the newspaper.' What I love to see is kids succeed."
Brian Sandalow is a sports reporter for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.
WHY THEY VOTED:
Here's a summary of Alex Leal's coaching resumé, which played a major part in his ranking at No. 2:
Alex Leal began his head coaching career at Raymondville, winning three district championships. He moved to Rio Grande City for one year before succeeding Tommy Roberts at Port Isabel in 1982.
At P.I., Leal won three district championships and led the Tarpons to two berths in the state quarterfinals. Leal left for McHi after the 1984 season and led the Bulldogs to three playoff appearances and one trip to the state quarterfinals.
In 1993, Leal left for Harlingen South, and by 1995 the Hawks were district champions. Overall, Leal has compiled 205 wins against only 99 losses.
THE SERIES
With the 100th season of high school football in the Rio Grande Valley upon us, The Monitor will take a look at the top 25 coaches, top 25 teams and top 50 players of all time.
THE COACHES
1: TBA
AUGUST 3
2: ALEX LEAL
3: Earl Scott
4: Richard Flores
5: Tommy Roberts
6: Bob Martin
7: Robert Vela
8: Sonny Detmer
9: Lum Wright
10: Jesse Longhoffer
11: Tony Villarreal
12: J.W. Helms
13: George Vest
14: Rusty Dowling
15: Joe Hamrick
16: David Lee
17: Brooks Conover
18: Bruce Bush
19: Carl Spoonemore
20: Joe Solis
(tie) Tom Chavez
22: E.C. Lerma
23: Chuck Moser
24: Cris Cavazos
25: Jim Hite
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