By Brian Gosset
X – @gosset41
X – @gmsportsmedia1
gmsportsmedia2023@gmail.com
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Irwin Garcia knows something about brining back winning football to a program – especially one in Fort Worth. He spent the previous 11 years at North Side High School.
In 2019 – alongside head coach Joseph Turner, the Steers reached the playoffs for the first time in 40 years. The following season they started out 7-1 during COVID and clinched another postseason appearance.
Now Garcia looks to help turn another local football team around as he took the job at Diamond Hill-Jarvis in the summer. The season officially kicks off with Week 1 against South Hills – 730 pm Thursday at Handley Field.
“One of the things that appealed to me about Diamond Hill-Jarvis was the community and how they were very involved and very supportive. They want to win,” Garcia said. “It was one of those deals that made it a no-brainer for me and my family. We want to come here and make an impact on young men and women on this side of town. The kids deserve to have the Thursday night and Friday night experience every other kid gets. I’m excited to bring that to them and hopefully turn this program around and go in the right direction.”
Garcia said there are 54 players in his program with 28 on the varsity and the rest on junior varsity.
Not a lot of numbers, but he said it will be the first time in 5-6 years that the Eagles will have a JV football game during the opening week.
He said the motto this season is “Eyes Up Keep Climbing.”
The Eagles are in District 5-4A Division 1 with Springtown, Decatur, Eastern Hills, Western Hills, Southwest and Carter-Riverside. However, the team hasn’t won a game since 2019 – with 46 consecutive losses.
“My Number 1 goal is to reestablish pride that Diamond Hill-Jarvis once had,” Garcia said. “Back in the 90s, Diamond Hill-Jarvis had a pretty good little football team. It’s the little things and a process. It’s not going to happen in a day or a week, it’s going to take a year, two years, three years, but we want to get to a point in the program where we are prideful in what we’re doing.”
Following South Hills, DHJ will face his former school in North Side in Week 2 and then Dallas Conrad and Castleberry before going into district play. Garcia will face his friend and former mentor Joseph Turner, who’s now coaching at Southwest High School, in Week 9.
“I owe a lot to Joseph Turner. He helped develop me into a coach, but not only that but a good husband and a father,” Garcia said. “He took me under his wing and helped me understand what it means to be a coach.”
