'We want to get to that next level': New-look Alice football team ready to turn page in 2023

ALICE — JR Castellano is no stranger to getting the ship back on course in his 25 years of coaching high school football.

Castellano transformed a Taft program into a Class 3A powerhouse last season after the Greyhounds won their first district title in 40 years and reached the third round of the UIL playoffs.

Now, the Refugio native will look to continue that same success as the new head coach at Alice.

Castellano, who was hired in March, will try and help the Coyotes compete for a title in a competitive District 16-4A Division I, and he'll do it with a new-look Alice team that has also brought on a new offensive coordinator, offensive line coach and defensive backs coach.

"Being around South Texas most of my life, I get to impact a different community now," Castellano said. "It's always exciting with new faces, not only from the coaches but the kids and the community.

"It's very similar but the thing about Alice is they have tons of tradition and have had tons of success in the past. All we're trying to do is continue that success and add our own little twists and hopefully get to that next level."

A whole-new staff for Alice football

Joining Castellano's new-look Alice team features former Refugio offensive coordinator Cameron Cox, who will serve as the team's new offensive coordinator, former Hebbronville coach Gonzi Trevino will coach the defensive backs and former Freer and Woodsboro coach Raul “Tinker” Villarreal will lead the offensive line.

Defensive coordinator Hector Gaza returns for his second season as the team's defensive coordinator.

"I think each one of them brings their own experiences to the table which is a good thing," Castellano said. "We have a very experienced staff that have been around the block. The common dominator for all of it is they're in it for the kids. We've worked well the last couple of weeks and I am excited to see how we gel."

Each new Alice coach brings their share of experiences, including Cox, who spent the last 10 seasons helping Refugio compete for state championships.

Cox, who was hired in April, hit the ground running during spring athletics so he could get to know the team and adjust to a new program.

"It's been awesome. One of the things I like the most is that it's very familiar to me in the fact the kids show up all the time," Cox said. "When I got here in the Spring, they had to be here because of school but in the summer, we always had enough kids with 85 to 95% attendance. That was really good and I like the way we are progressing with our offense."

Cameron Cox eager to build a winner

Cox hopes playing in big games for a decade, and preparing for 16 games every season in Refugio, will help him lead this year's Alice team to new heights, especially after last season's bi-district loss to Port Lavaca Calhoun.

The Coyotes have made the playoffs two of the last three seasons, but have not been past the area round since 2017 during former head coach Kyle Atwood's first season.

"The amount of football I learned from coach (Jason) Herring was valuable," Cox said. "Whenever you get to play in those big games against Mart, Lago Vista, Cameron Yoe and six of the last 10 years we're in the state title game. There's a lot of talent here and I am very optimistic."

Alice's biggest challenge will be adapting to the loss of a handful of seniors, which includes quarterback Cutter Stewart, wide receiver Alejandro Vasquez and do-it-all athlete Hector Gaza III.

The Coyotes currently have three quarterbacks on the roster, including Alejandro Asevedo, Josh Camarillo and Lucian Cruz.

"It's been a pretty good ride since Castellano got here," Gaza said. "We're going 100 miles on every play and we're teaching our kids to give 100% for 48 minutes. Our kids are ready."

Set up for future success

The good news for the Coyotes is they return a core of young talent at the running back and wide receiver positions, including a balanced offensive and defensive line.

"It's been tough learning new stuff, but I have a lot of confidence in my guys," senior linebacker Nik Garza said. "Our senior class is really good at learning new things. These coaches give us a new look and a lot of confidence. They build us up."

Senior wide receiver Justin Arellano said the Coyotes have adapted to the new coaching staff quickly and hopes to make up for last season by avenging last season's loss to Port Lavaca Calhoun in the first round of the playoffs.

Alice will play one more scrimmage against Ray on Aug. 17 before opening the season on the road against King.

"Coach Castellanos is getting a lot out of us and making us the best players we can be," Arellano said. "We have great coaches and players surrounding us. We've had to adapt to some new things and change the structure of practice, but we're adapting really fast and moving at a high-rate. We're trying to come out and make up for last year. I know we're way better than a first round exit."

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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: New-look Alice football team ready to turn page in 2023