The Sharyland Independent School District approved the hirings of Craig Krell as new Sharyland High football head coach/athletic coordinator and Eddie Galindo as new Sharyland Pioneer football head coach/athletic coordinator during an SISD board meeting Monday.
Krell served as the Rattlers’ defensive coordinator for seven years before becoming first assistant head coach last season. Galindo was the Diamondbacks’ offensive assistant head coach and previously their offensive coordinator.
Former Sharyland football head coach/athletic coordinator Ron Adame and Sharyland Pioneer football head coach/athletic coordinator Thomas Lee were named Sharyland ISD athletic director and assistant athletic director last month, opening up the positions at both high schools.
Now, Krell and Galindo will be at the helm of the Rattlers’ and Diamondbacks’ programs, respectively.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” Krell said. “I’ve been down here in the Valley, worked for two great head coaches under Tony Harris and Ron Adame. I was waiting for an opportunity like this one day and I couldn’t be more excited to be at a school like Sharyland. I absolutely love it.”
After graduating from Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Krell came to the Rio Grande Valley in 1997 to coach inside linebackers at McAllen High under former coach Tony Harris. He then became the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator from 2003-2013 before joining Sharyland High as defensive coordinator in 2014. Krell was the first assistant head coach for the Rattlers last season.
“I’m excited for the opportunity. I love that they trusted me to take over this program and I just want to let them know I’m going to love the kids but I’m going to be hard on them and I’m going to work my tail off to make sure this program doesn’t miss a beat,” Krell said. “Hopefully we’re going to do special things.”
Galindo is a Raymondville and Texas State alum who previously coached at Edinburg High for 16 years, first as an assistant working with defensive ends and quarterbacks under former coach Robert Vela before becoming the Bobcats’ offensive coordinator and assistant head coach under Joey Caceres.
Galindo then helped start the Pioneer football program in 2014 as an offensive coordinator before becoming assistant offensive head coach.
Galindo coached the Sharyland Pioneer offense to become one of the top units in the nation over the last two years in total yardage and yards per game (510.2 ypg in 2019, 588.3 ypg in 2020) running a spread offense.
Galindo said he’s excited to lead Pioneer athletics on and off the field.
“It’s something as a coach you dream of doing and I’m just grateful for everyone who was involved with the process — the Sharyland ISD administrative team who believed in me and has given me this opportunity to lead Pioneer athletics,” Galindo said. “It’s about our whole program, it’s not just about football. We have to focus on all the programs and have to coach for the right reasons and do things right. I’m excited and can’t wait to get started being a mentor to these kids and making a difference in their lives. We’re going to coach to change lives and we’re going to coach them up to be champions in the classroom and on the fields, on the courts, and to be champions in life.”
