Two Las Cruces Schools Hire New Head Coaches

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Joseph Frias was 0-9 in his first season as Chaparral head coach in 2023.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two years later, he led the Lobos to eight wins, a top four seed and a semifinals appearance in the Class 4A playoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now he's the new head coach at one of the state's blue-blood programs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>His keen ability to rebuild programs quickly is probably a key reason Frias was named head coach at Mayfield on Wednesday following a three-month search. The Trojans, once one of the state's dominant programs, fell to 2-9 in 2025 under former head coach Gary Bradley, and haven't had a winning record since 2021. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last time Mayfield won more than seven games in a season? 2015.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Frias now takes on the task of restoring Mayfield's glory days. It won't be easy, of course, since the Trojans are in the same district as Class 5A powers Artesia and Roswell, along with Alamogordo (moved from 6A), Chaparral (moved from 4A), Deming and two programs showing signs of significant improvement - Gadsden and Goddard.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mayfield's decision to hire Frias ends the decades-long ‘Bradley Dynasty' over the Trojans program. Jim Bradley Jr. served two successful stints as Mayfield head coach (1965-72; 1994-2005). Michael Bradley succeeded him as head coach in 2006 and remained there until 2021 when Gary Bradley took the reins.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thus, the 2026 season will mark the first time since 1993 - a span of 33 years - that the Mayfield head coach won't be a ‘Bradley.'   </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Another Las Cruces-area high school has likewise hired a new head football coach. A few weeks after Kenneth Sanchez resigned, Organ Mountain promoted assistant coach Gregory Mallory to head coach of the Knights.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sanchez, formerly the National High School Coach of the Year at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, NV, resigned in early February after Organ Mountain fell to a disappointing 2-8 in 2025 following a promising 4-6 campaign in 2024.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mallory has some talented pieces to work with in 2026, particularly on offense where QB [player_tooltip player_id='1680049' first='Jaden' last='Gonzales'], RB [player_tooltip player_id='1613370' first='Romeo' last='Jones'] and WR [player_tooltip player_id='1680055' first='Zeke' last='Weir'] are all slated to return.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->