'Travis is family. Travis is home.': 20 years later, Joe Frank Martinez is coaching strong

During his 20 years with the Travis High School football team, Joe Frank Martinez has watched his teams play for pride with little to show for it.

This is not a school with many district or playoff trophies to showcase. It's hard for inner-city schools to prosper at a time when apathy is rampant and funding for sports programs is minimal. Maybe that's why the 2023 edition of Rebels football is special.

Travis is expected to improve its record to 5-1 when it battles winless Eastside Early College on Thursday night at Burger Stadium. The Rebels haven't had a winning season since the 2013 team went 6-4.

"Winning is contagious and it inspires the rest of the school and other programs," said Martinez, in his 10th year as the school's head football coach. "These guys, they want to win. They're working hard to do that. There's a different attitude we didn't have in years previous to this."

These are big times at the South Austin school that opened its doors for the first time exactly 60 years ago. For starters, Travis is among the high schools in the Austin school district that will have new turf on campus in 2024. That will be accompanied by lights for the campus football, baseball and softball facilities.

And there's more.

If they build it, will they come?

Travis will benefit from a $2.4 billion bond package that voters approved last November. That paved the way for funding for school improvements, technology upgrades and athletics. As for Travis, remodeling will begin in 2025 and will be completed by 2028.

During construction, students will remain in their current classrooms while new buildings are established at its current location. Portable classrooms will help alleviate crowding while each structure is being built.

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"We hope there will be more kids to show up and we'll have a bigger pool of athletes (in 2028)," Martinez said. "And it's perception. Travis is a great place, but certain people don't look at it that way. I've been here and Travis is family, Travis is home. There are a lot of people in South Austin who grew up here and want to see Travis succeed and do well. There's a lot of pride in this school and that will continue with the new school."

'Don't eat the cheese!'

For now, though, all eyes are on the current team. After opening the year with a 37-0 loss to Smithville, the Rebels have rebounded with four straight victories by a combined score of 188-41. The strength of the team is a 21-player junior class that has taken the reins of the program.

Before every practice, the players huddle for last-minute instructions. They break by shouting the following motto: "Don't eat the cheese!"

In other words, don't be satisfied with early success.

The second half of the season will offer bigger challenges against teams such as LBJ, McCallum and Crockett. The road to the District 12-5A Division II championship most likely will run through LBJ, the district's perennial champion for decades.

The Rebels are "more energetic" and "more hype" this year and they have been more physical than their last four opponents, left guard Dominic Juarez said. With that said, the rest of Central Texas probably doesn't believe Travis High is becoming a cool place for students to study.

"To be honest, they probably don't think Travis is a good school to go to," said Juarez, a junior. "But whenever you get to know the culture of Travis, it'll make you want to come over here to see what it's like to be a Rebel."

The emergence of Travis in football does not mean the Rebels will soon be threatening to win state. It's time to tap the brakes. Martinez welcomed a total of 75 players for the entire program. By comparison, Westlake, Lake Travis, Vandegrift and Round Rock usually have close to 300 players to spread out between varsity and multiple sub-varsity teams.

"When you look at schools like Westlake and Lake Travis, they have big things that we're trying to get," Travis lineman Anthony Powell said. "When we get those things, we'll have more people who will want to come."

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Martinez, 46, has devoted his life to helping high school players reach their goals. A 1995 graduate of Del Rio, he quarterbacked the Rams for two seasons. He attended the University of Texas but graduated from Sul Ross State State University in 2003.

Martinez was hired at Travis in 2004 and the rest is history. He coached linebackers, quarterbacks and the offensive line and once served as strength and conditioning coordinator under Drew Sanders, now a highly successful coach at Vandegrift. He was hired as head coach in 2014.

Junior quarterback Jordan Davis said Martinez deserves credit for sticking around for 20 years and mentoring players.

"Coach is really good with character development," Davis said. "I feel like he takes pride in what he does. He wants to make us better men, not just better football players."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Travis High School enjoys football renaissance, looks to the future