MIDLAND, Texas — Midland Independent School District announced Tuesday that they hired from within to fill their executive director of athletics position, and it's former Athletic Director Wesley Torres.
Torres has been in the Tall City for over a decade, beginning with his time as the girls basketball coach and girls athletic coordinator at Midland High School. Torres detailed some of the best parts of the athletic department at MISD and his personal leadership style.
"We've got some great coaches, great head coaches in place. We've got the right people," Torres said. "We've got the people we need to continue success. Our job is to support them, and I think that's important for people to understand is this is a leadership role. But my leadership style, I explained to the committee, is to support our coaches. From the day that I took this job, I always told myself I don't want to forget where I was because I was in those shoes, and we've put in processes and things in place to make their jobs easier."
One challenge facing Torres is hiring coaches to come out to West Texas. However, Torres is confident he's the right man to do it.
"It's not to say that it can't be done, because it will be done," Torres said. "I just think I had some great coaches, some great teachers that made a huge impact in my life, and I know this is a calling. I know this is where I'm supposed to be. Like I said earlier, I get to go to games and I get paid for that. It's fun for me. It's a lot of fun."
Torres takes over from former Executive Director of Athletics Blake Feldt, who recently retired. Torres said Feldt taught him a lot about the job.
"In this role in athletic administration, our responsibility is to oversee the whole athletic department, and so the transition from a head coach to coordinator to athletic administrator, you've got to make sure you see the whole picture: what's best for our student athletes, number one, and then our head coaches and assistant coaches, number two," Torres said.
Torres stated Wednesday at a press conference that plans are in motion to fill his old position, which is now vacant. That job will be posted in the coming hours or days.