Kelley Lee, the former coach at Eastern New Mexico University, was hired Tuesday to be the next athletic coordinator and football coach for the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers.
Brownsville ISD athletic director Gilbert Leal said the hiring committee wanted someone who was an effective communicator and experienced leader with a history of success, and Lee fit the bill.
“From the very beginning Dr. (Rene) Gutierrez, our superintendent, asked for our department to find a dynamic leader. He wanted a splash hire, in his words,” Leal said. “He’s been an (athletic director) and head coach at the high school level, junior college level, NAIA level and NCAA level. He’s got a wide range of experience as a head coach at all levels, so he checked off the box for being an effective leader.
“The other thing is we wanted to hire someone that would feel comfortable working in the Rio Grande Valley and in Brownsville,” Leal added. “He was born and raised in Lordsburg, N.M., which is on the border of Mexico and New Mexico on I-10, so as far as being able to understand the culture of a border town, he’s born and raised in that, so he checked that box off, too.”
Lee spent the last nine years with the ENMU football program and four years as the head coach. In a press release announcing his departure, ENMU athletic director Matt Billings said Lee “led our program to new heights in his time as head coach.”
ENMU competes in the Lone Star Conference at the NCAA Division II level. Lee is the school’s all-time leader in career win percentage after going 21-12 (.636) in four seasons. He led the Greyhounds to their first Division II bowl win in program history, a 20-13 defeat of Southern Arkansas in the 2019 Heritage Bowl.
Prior to his stop at ENMU, where he served as the offensive coordinator before he became the head coach, he was at the helm of Valencia High School in New Mexico. He was also the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Midland College, and prior to that, the offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at New Mexico Military Institute. He was a graduate assistant at ENMU from 2002-03 and worked with the running backs and quarterbacks.
Lee earned his bachelor of science degree from Western New Mexico University and was the quarterback while at school. He has consistently brought offensive success to every program of which he’s been a part, which made him the right man for the job even though there was a strong field of applicants interested in leading Brownsville Veterans.
“We had about 30 applicants that were approved that we screened,” Leal said. “They ranged from coaches from Amarillo, Liberty Hill, the Fort Worth area, the Houston area, all over the state, plus some of the top offensive and defensive coordinators from the Rio Grande Valley.”
Lee officially stepped down from his position with ENMU on Wednesday. He has a face-to-face meeting scheduled with the Chargers coaches and athletes March 8, and Leal said he’s hopeful Lee will be moved and ready to get started with his new program by March 22.
