By Reynaldo Leal

The Brownsville coaching carrousel slowed down this morning as the BISD Board of Trustees announced their choices for the district Athletic Director and the head football coaching position at Pace. The school district’s athletic department will now be lead by Veterans Memorial AC and head coach Mark Guess and the Vikings will continue to be run by William Deen, who was handed the reins of the program back in February.

Guess will take over for interim AD Carlos Guerra, who was assigned the position when Tom Chavez was reassigned to the Wellness Coordinator position in March. Chavez did not continue as Wellness Coordinator for long and is now the Rivera head coach – one of the many shakeups that have rocked Brownsville football during the past five months.

It is not clear who will coach the Chargers during their 32-5A debut now that Guess, 44, moves up to the AD post, but one could only hope that David Cantu (reassigned to Chavez’s old Wellness Coordinator job after two seasons with Rivera) would get the nod if only to complete the crazy coaching cycle in Brownsville.

Deen, who beat out Steve Marroquin and Robert Lucio for the top spot at Pace, had originally been reassigned as the interim head coach after Rene Medrano moved over to Hanna. He said he always treated his position as a long term one despite the temporary nature of his title.

“Treating it like a short term assignment wouldn’t have been fair to my players and coaches,” Deen said. “They were looking to me for consistency.”

The board of trustees making his position a permanent one this morning couldn’t have hurt, and did have a visible effect on the overall morale of his staff according to the 45-year-old coach.

“It makes a big difference for everyone,” he said of the recent news. “The confidence is there for my assistant coaches, who didn’t know what to expect before, now that they know I’m going to be here through the fall.”

The coach will need all the confidence he can get if he wants to repeat the Viking’s 9-3 season and 2011 play-off berth (Medrano’s last act as Pace head coach). The young and wide-eyed Vikings will only have one returning letterman in senior offensive lineman Jaime Morales, but Deen already has big plans for the team, and will look to at least five new varsity players for leadership as the pre-season progresses.

It’s unclear whether Deen’s squad can muster a winning season in the 32-5A, which will include two dangerous Harlingen teams and a strong Rivera squad (16 returning lettermen) looking to regain their past success under Chavez, but he is ready to get them on the winning track.

“It’s our job to get these kids ready,” he said. “We have to push them past what they think they can do. Brandon Ramirez and Oscar Martinez are two who can do it and can stand out as leaders.”

Deen said he heard the news today at 2:30 a.m. and has had several calls and emails congratulating him on his new/old job. But as he walked into his office today all he could think about was all the new hires he planned on making before summer practice sessions.

“Everyone is happy,” he said. “I just hope they’re as excited for me as I am to do this job.”