June 27, 2019 612 PM
EL PASO, MARFA – J.J. Calderon, who was the only head football coach in the history of Eastlake High School football, has stepped down as coach to take over as Director of Athletics at the Socorro Independent School District.
“I will miss being the head coach at Eastlake,” said the 44-year-old Calderon. “I love the kids, the community, my coaching staff. This opportunity came up and it’s a great opportunity. I’ll still be involved at Eastlake, I’m just moving down the street. I’m grateful to have this opportunity to work with all schools in SISD and still have the chance to help mold athlete’s lives.”
Eastlake opened in 2010, then had its first varsity football season in 2012. Calderon’s best seasons came in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, the Falcons went 9-4 and lost to Everman in the third round of the state playoffs. In 2015, the Falcons went 11-2 and fell to Lake Dallas in the third round of the state playoffs.
Calderon is the son of Jimmy Calderon of El Paso. His aunt and uncle are Hazel Martinez and Johnny Calderon of Marfa. Jimmy and Johnny are the nephews of Lucy and Armando Garcia of Marfa.
“Eastlake is my baby and we accomplished so much there,” Calderon said. “Our teams did some great things, we saw lots of kids accomplish so much. Our entire athletic department accomplished so much and I’m really proud of that. There are lots of great coaches at Eastlake, coaches who care for the kids and want them to do well. All of our football teams at Eastlake were great to be around and those two teams that won back-to-back area titles were really great to coach.”
Calderon, who played college football at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, won three district and five bi-district championships at Eastlake. Previously, he was at Riverside High School for nine years as a head coach and assistant where the Rangers also won a pair of area round championships during his time there.
“Eastlake will have a talented group this coming season, it reminds of the 2015 team which had lots of success,” Calderon said.
