St. Pius X filled its head football coaching vacancy on Friday, as former Albuquerque High coach Curtis Flakes will take over the Sartans program.
Flakes, 40, was AHS’ head coach in 2014 and 2015. He was coaching the Bulldogs when they ended what was then a 43-game losing streak in 2014. AHS was 8-12 in his two seasons there.
He had been out of high school coaching until last season, when he joined Landrick Brody’s coaching staff at West Mesa. Flakes finished the year as the Mustangs’ defensive coordinator.
“This St. Pius community, in general, it’s a tight-knit community, and there was a lot of support from alumni, staff, teachers, administration. … Everyone had nothing but positive things to say about them,” Flakes said.
The Sartans struggled to a 2-9 record last fall but did quality for the Class 4A playoffs . They lost in the first round at Portales.
“Last year happened to be a down year for them, but with the players they’ve got coming back, it looks like a great opportunity,” Flakes said. “When the job came open, I was really excited about it.”
Flakes replaces Dave Montoya, who was fired late last month after six seasons at the helm. The Sartans made the playoffs in all five of his full seasons.
When Flakes was asked by Brody to come to West Mesa, Flakes said he hadn’t had any interest in rejoining the high school ranks. But Brody changed his mind, and, he said, “I fell in love with the program and West Mesa” and it rekindled his interest in becoming a head coach again.
