BROWNSVILLE — Brownsville Rivera has found its new man at the helm, naming longtime San Benito defensive coordinator Johnny Garza as the school’s new athletic coordinator and head football coach, Brownsville ISD athletic director Gilbert Leal confirmed to RGVSports. “I know him as a person and I know his work ethic,” Leal said. “I know he’s been honored throughout the state for leading one of the top defenses year in and year out. He’s been the defensive coordinator at San Benito for the past six years. He’s really built something there and continued to build on something that was going really good. We’re just excited we’re going to be his first head coaching job, which is very excited in our profession. We’re just super excited to have him.” The new position marks Garza’s first time as a head coach, joining the Raiders after 11 years as an assistant coach at San Benito, including time as the team’s defensive coordinator. Prior to his coaching career, Garza played under then-San Benito head coach Mario Pena, suiting up as a linebacker for the Greyhounds. Garza is known for fielding some of the RGV’s stingiest defenses during his tenure with the Greyhounds, including a dominant 2022 season in which they allowed only 171.1 total yards and 8.0 points per game. San Benito’s “WarDog” defense ended the season ranked fourth in Class 6A in terms of points allowed. The first-year head coach is tasked with reviving a Brownsville Rivera program which has struggled over the past decade. The Raiders are 11 years removed from their last postseason appearance in 2014, amassing a 13-81 record during that span. “It’s not the best timing in the world,” Leal said. “It is not a bad way to start here in June though. Obviously he’s going in without spring football or an offseason or things like that. My recommendation to him is to consider this next fall as spring football. Our goal is to make sure we can get his staff in place and for him to build on the core values he sees he needs to do. I know bringing him in it’ll probably start with defense and building the foundation of where he sees the vision of where the team is going to be. Then just build off of that one year after another.” ivan@themonitor.com...

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Several members of the Rivera Raiders football team attended the annual Rio Sports Live photo op at Luke Fruia Motors earlier today. Huge thanks to the dealership team for their hospitality and a big shoutout to RSL Network for hosting this fantastic event for our players. #RaiderNation...

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