Top 26 storylines for 2016: No. 25 – Koy Detmer returns to coach Mission

[caption id="attachment_24472" align="alignright" width="350"]Photo by Johnny Martinez Mission WR Jesus Vera (Photo by Johnny Martinez)[/caption] Returning home is never easy as a first-time head coach, but returning home to a place (where you hold nearly every passing record in the books) in the football crazy Rio Grande Valley ramps the pressure up just a bit. That’s the task for first-year Mission head coach Koy Detmer, who as a junior in 1990 led Mission all the way to the Class 5A semi-finals, the last school from the Valley at the big school level to win Region IV. Detmer’s name alone carries plenty of weight in the Valley. After his stellar career at MHS, he went on to star at Colorado and had a nine-year career in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles. He’s spent the last six years as an assistant for his father Sonny Detmer, and stated this off-season that the Mission job was the only head coaching gig he applied for. “It’s a building process coming into a new place, we are using the same offense and terminology we used when I played here before, but we’ve obviously changed a few things as offensive football has evolved,” said Detmer. Detmer’s return will certainly raise expectations for Mission in 2016, which is unique for a program that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2009. “The kids have worked very hard this off-season, the kids did a great job in the spring and 7on7, and we are excited about the challenge.” Mission is one the Valley’s more traditional programs with the likes of Detmer, former Texas A&M and Giants receiver Jamaar Taylor and legendary Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry as alums. A strong start to the 2016 season under Detmer will without a doubt re-energize the Eagles fan base in what looks to be a wide open District 30-6A race.

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