A Coach’s Farewell: It was standing room only for many mourners of the Valley sports legend.

Parking was scarce, and open seats in the pews and balcony were non-existent Tuesday morning for those who arrived less than 30 minutes before local football coaching legend Robert Vela’s funeral at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Edinburg.

The Mass concluded with a gun salute for the military veteran. His casket was then driven down the road to Cats Stadium, where the Edinburg High School Bobcats band played the fight song in his honor. The rendition was supported with a group chant — “B-O-B-C-A-T-S!”

Vela died Saturday morning after a brief battle with stomach cancer. The beloved Rio Grande Valley gridiron leader was 61.

Tremendous man

Vela, who began his head coaching career at Edcouch-Elsa High School in 1988 and coached the last 10 seasons at Edinburg High, compiled a 137-73 record (.652 winning percentage) and led his teams to 14 playoff berths.

He may have died a Bobcat, but Tuesday’s scene showed many in the Valley and beyond revered him — and not just for his triumphs on the gridiron.

“He was a good family man and a tremendous coach, no doubt about that,” said Edinburg schools athletic director Robert Alaniz, a lifelong friend of Vela.

“He stood up for a lot of good things and he did a lot for athletics, not only here but in Edcouch and all over the Valley.

“You can see by the people he touched that came by and paid their last respects. We’re going to miss him.”

Hundreds of people descended upon Sacred Heart for the roughly 95-minute Mass celebrating his life.

Standing room only

Well-wishers lined the walls of the church, and the balcony was standing-room only.

The entryway to the church was filled with those who no doubt were touched at one time or another by the popular coach and wanted to at least hear the service even if they couldn’t see it.

More of the overflow crowd stood outside the entryway despite the steamy, 90-plus degree morning.

The crowd was dotted with current Bobcats players wearing their blue jerseys.

Edinburg High coaches came out in large numbers wearing their blue, team-issued polo shirts.

“Back when we first started working, he hired me on as offensive coordinator,” said Joey Caceres, the new Edinburg High coach. Caceres began his coaching career at Edcouch-Elsa when Vela hired him in 1988 and has been with Vela ever since.

“I was 25 years old and he took a chance on me,” he said. “I owe everything to him. I don’t know if too many people know this, but his nickname for me was mijo, which means ‘son’ in Spanish.

“I guess he kind of looked at me that way and I kind of looked at him as a father figure. It’s going to be very hard. I’m going to miss him.”

“It was amazing”

Other schools were represented at Tuesday’s funeral service, as well.

Rivalry on the field or not, several area coaches showed up to pay their respects, including Mel Rios of Pharr-San Juan-Alamo High, Orlando Garcia of PSJA North, Joe Sanchez of PSJA Memorial, Roy Garza of Edinburg North and Oscar Salinas of Edinburg Economedes.

Rios, who coached with Vela at Edcouch-Elsa in the 1980s, served as an honorary pallbearer at the funeral.

The current crop of Bobcats — who might be too young to completely comprehend Vela’s impact on the game and the Edinburg community — received a lesson on his life Tuesday.

“It brings spirit and encouragement to see that we have support from the community and from everybody in the city,” Bobcats tight end Marty Guevara said.

“They’re behind us; they’re behind the team; they’re behind Coach Vela’s family and behind the school in general. It helps us out on the field and it helps us to be better students, knowing that although he’s not here physically he’s still here with us, inside of us.

“He would have been speechless if he would have been here. It was amazing.”

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Todd Mavreles is a sports reporter for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4451.