Valley High School filled its football coaching vacancy, and Eldorado hired its new girls basketball coach, both on Friday afternoon.
The Vikings promoted assistant Billy Cobos, who was coaching offensive and defensive linemen, to replace Judge Chavez.
At Eldorado, former Hope Christian head coach Gary Ellis is taking over the Eagles from Leroy Bare
Billy Cobos
There are now two Cobos serving as head coaches in the metro area. John Cobos, Billy’s nephew, is Bernalillo’s head coach.
And, those two will face each other on opening night of the 2022 season, Aug. 19, in Bernalillo.
“John is the one that got me into coaching,” said Billy Cobos, 44, who played for Sam Jernigan at Goddard.
Valley is coming off a playoff berth last season, although the young Vikings, who have struggled with participation numbers in recent years, finished 4-7 following a first-round lost to Goddard last November in Roswell.
“I honestly feel like at this time, we got those athletes we need to get over our hump,” Cobos said. “We started a lot of sophomores last year and they didn’t really understand what they needed to do to win.”
Cobos has served as an assistant coach both at Bernalillo, with his nephew, and at Valley, where he had been coaching since 2019.
“To say that I’m excited is probably not the word,” he said. “I’m super excited, and so happy they chose me.”
Cobos has been a teacher at Valley, and is headed into his 15th year.
“I love the North Valley, I love the culture, I love the people I work with, and I truly love these boys,” Cobos said.
Gary Ellis
• Ellis, 45, was most recently serving as an assistant varsity coach and head JV girls coach at Albuquerque Academy. He spent two years an assistant to Barela – who recently became the head boys coach at Albuquerque High – at Eldorado prior to that, and coached at Hope from 2011-19, the last two seasons as the Huskies’ head coach.
“I think Eldorado is just that perfect fit for me,” Ellis said. “They have that long-standing tradition of excellence, not just athletically, but academically, and it’s a really good fit for me to get back into being a head coach.”
Ellis will have one of the state’s most dynamic players in Bella Hines, a guard who will be a sophomore next season.
“It’s very exciting to have a player like her, and it’s great as a head coach to have that kind of talent,” Ellis said.
Eldorado finished 12-14 last season, losing in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament.
He is a small business owner in Albuquerque.
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