Santa Fe New Mexican
April 24, 2026
There is a lot brewing in The Valley, as the head boys basketball coach jobs at Pojoaque and Española Valley high schools opened up this month.
Pojoaque dismissed Ryan Cordova after three years and a 45-39 record, and he also resigned as school principal upon learning he wouldn’t be retained in that position, either.
Meanwhile, Española opened applications for coach after interim head coach Jordan Romero guided the program to an 8-12 record. Romero took over for
Joey Trujillo when he was fired in early December. The Sundevils finished at 9-18.
Cordova said the change in superintendents from Sondra Adams to Channell Segura likely meant that she wanted to install her own administrators at key positions and schools.
“I’ve been at this for 30 years, so I know how the business works,” Cordova said. “I enjoyed my time at Pojoaque. The community embraced me, and it actually changed my life completely.”
Pojoaque athletic director Sean Jimez
said he wouldn’t comment on the reason for Cordova’s dismissal, but the search for his replacement is in its final stages. A committee of nine players, parents, staff and administrators held a series of interviews with candidates Thursday, and he hopes to have a hire by late next week at the latest.
As for Española Valley, the job opened for applications April 13 as rumors swirled that Española Superintendent Carl Marano was in negotiations with the school board over a buyout of his two-year contract. The Española school board recently agreed to a $257,561.53 buyout.
Marano declined to comment on the opening.
Romero said he applied for the position in the hopes he can continue what he started midseason. He added that he received a strong evaluation from AD Juan Carlos Fulgenzi.
“I think we did a good enough job to come back,” Romero said. “I hope I can get an interview and get a shot at it because it’s a solid program.”
Cordova took over the job in 2023 after an unceremonious firing as the head men’s basketball coach and AD at Northern New Mexico College after 12 years in the fall of 2022. He twice guided the Elks to the Class 4A state basketball tournament. Pojoaque went 14-15 in 2025-26 but was 9-6 over the last seven weeks of the season after senior post Seraphin Mendez returned from a knee injury.
The two seasons were trying for the program, as it dealt with the death of guard Nic Manzanares just before the 2024-25 season, and Mendez struggled during that stretch to recover from a torn ACL he suffered in the 2023-24 season.
Still, he pointed out Pojoaque, the 14th seed in the 2026 tournament, led No. 3 Albuquerque Hope Christian in the second half before a 20-0 scoring run by the Huskies erased a 55-46 lead late in the third quarter.
“We played a great three quarters at Hope, and there was about three minutes that we played that cost us the game,” Cordova said.
Cordova said he is exploring a few openings and confirmed he applied for the dean of students and head boys basketball coach position at Española Valley. He added he feels the Sundevils program is loaded with returning talent and could be a contender in 4A — a sentiment Romero shares.
“I think Jordan did a great job filling in for Joey, of course,” Cordova said. “I also had the privilege of coaching Ray and Jeremy Romero [Ray was Jordan Romero’s varsity assistant], and I have a lot of respect for those guys there.”
Jordan Romero said he feels he is more than ready to take on a varsity program, given that he spent a decade as an assistant at St. Michael’s and was an assistant with the Española girls program under Ray Romero Sr. for the past two years. Jordan Romero is married to Kaitlyn Romero, the daughter of Ray Sr.
Romero said he hopes the hiring process moves quickly, even as the district is in the process of starting a search for a superintendent. He pointed out that the summer is just a little more than a month away, and it is essential to get the program moving forward.
“There is good talent coming up,” Jordan Romero said. “They’re good kids, and I think I can balance that out with really good coaching. And I’m still young enough to that I can show them that I can play with them [in practice].”
As for Pojoaque, Jimenez said he would not name the finalists for the position, but he felt the quality of candidates was impressive. He said the committee has a challenge in finding the right fit, but he feels it can find that coach.
He added that the school moving to 3A after spending the past eight in 4A does not mean the path to success is easier. If anything, moving into District 2-3A, of which Pojoaque was a longtime member, might be tougher because of the quality of teams in it.
Four of the last five state champions came from the district, with St. Michael’s and Las Vegas Robertson each claiming the title twice, and Santa Fe Indian School has made the semifinals three of the last four years.
“You could say we maybe got a few more candidates because we’re going to 3A,” Jimenez said. “But there is such tradition at Pojoaque that I knew this job would be easy to fill compared to other jobs that are open.”