By Greg Holt, Staff Writer  
September 29, 2006
Printed courtesy of Imperial Valley Press, El Centro, CA 

Sometimes you have to go to Kansas to learn how to coach Calexico football.

At least that was the path of Jose “Joe” Apodaca, Calexico High School English teacher and head coach of Bulldogs football.

Apodaca was born and raised in El Centro and became a star defensive lineman at Central Union High School.

He graduated in 1990, but Apodaca, who is 5 feet 7 inches tall, said the sport’s larger college programs were looking for taller defensive linemen.

Nevertheless, he accepted a scholarship to play football for Tabor College, a 2,000-student private school in Hillsboro, Kan. Apodaca said the small college satisfied his goal to play college football, but he soon discovered that Hillsboro was a sea change from the Imperial Valley.

“It was a real eye opener. Growing up in El Centro, you grow accustomed to the culture here. I went from a town that was 90 percent Latino to being one of three Latinos out of 2,000 students,” Apodaca said.

Apodaca said he quickly adapted and had a great experience at Tabor College, but doesn’t think he would have gone to college if not to play football. Now he’s glad he did for reasons he never anticipated.

“The fact that I went to school led me to what I’m doing now,” Apodaca said.

He spent five years at Tabor completing his degree, and during his fifth year he became a defensive line coach in order to keep his scholarship. This led to a coaching job at the Quaker-affiliated Friend’s University in Wichita, where he coached defensive linemen and defensive backs while earning a master’s degree in English from Wichita State University.

After moving to North Carolina to coach linebackers at Chowan College, he returned to El Centro in 2000 as head coach of the Central Union High School football team.

“I wanted the challenge of being a head coach, and I wanted to implement my own philosophy. You don’t get better as a head coach until you are one,” Apodaca said.

He has been head football coach at Calexico High School since 2004, and also teaches world literature to sophomores. He said he met his wife since he returned to the Valley and now has two sons.

The Bulldogs have two wins and two losses so far this season, but Apodaca said he intends to turn the program into a winner.

“I’m happy to be a part of this community, and I think it’s always a benefit when someone can come back and contribute,” Apodaca said.

>> Staff Writer Greg Holt can be reached at 337-3452 or gholt@ivpressonline.com