Daniel Chavez has the passion, dedication and desire to lead a high school football program.
Moving forward, the 2003 graduate of Del Valle High School has his chance. On Friday afternoon, he was named the head football coach and athletic coordinator at Riverside High School.
Chavez replaces Gary Recoder, who left to take over the head football coaching job at Class 5A Bel Air. Riverside competes in Class 4A.
“This is where I want to be,” Chavez said. “This is a great community, I grew up nearby to the school. We’ve had success and we look forward to building on that success. There is great tradition at this school and we want to build on that.”
Chavez has been important to the program’s success in recent years as the team’s offensive coordinator. The Rangers won two playoff games in 2021 and a bi-district title last season. He helped develop talented offensive players such as Angel Munoz, Jose Guardado and Adrian Estrada.
Returning sophomore Carlos Rojas is a rising star in the city after a strong season last year at wide receiver and who already holds an offer from UTEP.
“It’s good to see coach Chavez get the job, he knows us well and he works hard,” Rojas said. “As a freshman last year on varsity, he didn’t look at me as a freshman, he simply said you are a varsity player. I’m looking forward to this coming season.”
In addition to Riverside, Chavez coached at Chapin, Socorro and in Arizona and has had multiple coaching influences including Polo Gonzalez, Tury Poblano and Primo Vasquez.
“Having been around different coaches and programs, I’ve been fortunate to learn so much and be able to use that information to my benefit,” said Chavez, who was also a coach of the successful Rangers baseball program. “I’m excited for this opportunity. The kids have been working hard and they know what to expect from me.”
Chavez is one of several new coaches in the city. In addition to Recoder at Bel Air and Chavez at Riverside, Omar Garcia takes over at Horizon, Ryan Warner takes over at Pebble Hills, Marco Chavez is the new coach at Chapin, Jon Elliott is the new Irvin coach and Hristo Gonzalez takes the helm at Cathedral.
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Felix F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on X