For nine seasons, Lee High School football coach Jimmy Ramos fought the good fight against odds that would have sent a lesser man packing long ago.
Coaching at a school with the lowest enrollment in one of the state’s strongest Class 5A districts, Ramos went 18-71 and never finished above .500 after succeeding Terry Hall in 2001.
Ramos never would have survived as long as he did if he didn’t have a gift for making the best of a tough situation, and an unwavering loyalty to the athletes he coached.
That’s why walking away from the job has been so difficult for Ramos, the first Hispanic head football coach in the history of the North East Independent School District.
Ramos resigned as the Volunteers’ head coach recently, citing health issues and a desire to spend more time with his family.
Ramos, 44, declined to elaborate about his health.
“Telling my players I wouldn’t be coaching them anymore was very difficult, very emotional for me,” Ramos said Thursday night, choking back tears. “I get emotional any time I talk about it. They tell you when you start coaching that you never stay anywhere because of the kids.
“But when I got in a situation where I felt the kids really needed me, it was tough to walk away from. This is not something that’s easy for me to do because I’ve put a lot of myself into Lee High School, and I’ve built some great relationships that will last a lifetime.”
In the end, the stress of the job finally took its toll on Ramos. Although he’s still a young man, Ramos couldn’t have been expected to continue his grueling pace indefinitely.
Once a state power – the Vols won a state title and lost in the state finals twice during a seven-year span from 1965-71, Lee had fallen on hard times long before Ramos left South San for the school on Jackson-Keller Road.
The Vols were in such decline that they had recorded only four winning seasons in the 21 years before Ramos’ hiring.
Still, Ramos embraced the challenge.
“You go into a job to be competitive and you put a lot of pressure on yourself,” he said.
Given his DNA – to say he’s driven and highly competitive would be an understatement – Ramos never would have stepped away from coaching if his health hadn’t given him pause.
“I’ve been coaching for 22 years and I’ve been away from my family a lot,” Ramos said. “I see this as a sign to do something different. This is not the way I wanted it to end, but I don’t want anybody to feel sorry for me.
“I’ve spent so much time with other people’s kids for 22 years that I think it’s time for me to start enjoying my kids and family. I feel guilty about leaving my players and I know I’ll miss them a lot, but I look forward to getting home early.”
Ramos has a 13-year-old son, Jacob, and an 8-year-old daughter, Chloe, from his first marriage, and a 10-month-old son, Nathaniel, with his wife, Lauren.
“I have felt guilty about not being around my family more,” Ramos said. “I don’t any more of life to pass me by.”
Jacob, an eighth-grader at Driscoll Middle School, played on the McAllister Little League all-star team that advanced to the Little League World Series last summer and finished fourth. A quarterback, Jacob will attend Reagan High School.
“It’ll be nice to see Jake play,” Ramos said.
Jacob accompanied his father to school on the day he told his players of his resignation.
“He’s 13 and I’ve been at Lee for nine years, so Lee is all he knows,” Ramos said. “It wasn’t just me saying goodbye but him, too. It was very tough on Jake. But I can’t say enough about my players. They were so respectful and caring. It’s just an amazing thing the bond you develop with these kids.”
Ramos, who returned to work Monday after taking off for about three weeks, said he expects to be reassigned to another job in the district after spring break.
NEISD athletic director Jerry Comalander said the district will begin advertising the job opening Friday.
“We’ll post it for two weeks and fill the position as soon as possible,” Comalander said.
Comalander expressed regrets about losing Ramos as a coach.
“One of the things he did was increase the numbers in the Lee football program when they had gotten smaller,” Comalander said.
“He was a positive influence. We always regret losing a coach. We’ll miss Jimmy and we wish him well.”
Ramos said there are 162 students in the Lee football program today, compared to 82 when he took over.
So how did Ramos double the numbers? Energetic and determined, he inspired kids to play for Lee with his commitment to the program.
To watch Ramos interact with his players on and off the field was to see a deep bond rooted in mutual trust.
“I take pride in what we were able to do as coaches,” Ramos said. “We didn’t win a lot of games, but we did things the right way and did right by the kids. That’s what I’ll remember most. I worked with kids that needed me, and I was there for them. That’s why I’m broken up about leaving them.”
Ramos coached a handful of outstanding players at Lee, including Oklahoma linebacker Travis Lewis, Iowa State quarterback Jerome Tiller and Baylor offensive lineman Chris Griesenbeck. He simply didn’t have enough of them.
While victories were few and far between during his nine-year tenure with the Vols, Ramos never lost sight of what he calls the “big picture.”
“When you get those phone calls on Christmas or Easter, that’s when you realize the impact you’ve had on these kids’ lives,”
Ramos said. “We’ve gone from being a coach and athlete to being friends for life. I tell all my players to play this forward. Just like I was there for them, I want them to be there for other kids that follow them.”
As he leaves coaching, Jimmy Ramos can take satisfaction in knowing he fought the good fight and stayed the course while helping scores of boys become young men.
By any standard, that’s a legacy to be proud of.
