Coaching legend Sepkowitz hospitalized

El Paso high school football legend Allan Sepkowitz is hospitalized. The Hospitals of Providence Sierra Campus confirmed to ABC-7 that Sepkowitz is a patient in the Intensive Care Unit there.

A Facebook post by his wife, June’s business, a Northeast El Paso gift shop, says Sepkowitz had brain surgery Wednesday after suffering significant cranial bleeding. The post says there is no prognosis yet. A hospital stay of several weeks is anticipated.

Sepkowitz is said to be on a respirator and heavily sedated.

He is 74 years old. He retired in 2012 after spending 47 years as a coach at Andress High School. Published reports show he was 22nd on the list of Texas high school football coaching victories at the time of his retirement.

He spent 36 years as the Eagles’ head coach, leading them to a record of 258-140-3. His teams won 14 district championships and 17 bi-district championships.

Sepkowitz coached NFL players Ray Mickens, Brian Young and Paul Smith at Andress.

At the time of his retirement, he said the challenge of keeping up with an evolving game provided the stimulus to stay at it nearly half a century. “The game has changed so much with the wide-open offensives that are run today and the different more complicated defenses,” Sepkowitz said. “We thought about leaving, but it just got ingrained into me and I just wanted to stay here.”

One of his greatest disappointments was the downward spiral of star defensive tackle Andre Jones that ended when Jones died of a drug overdose at the age of 24.

“I remember when we got him as a freshman, and he was bigger and better than any of our seniors,” Sepkowitz said. “He was very competitive, and we knew after his first game of freshman football that kid deserved to be on varsity.”

Jones was a Parade All-American, a can’t miss recruit, and his talent on the field earned him a scholarship to play at the University of Texas. During his freshman year , Jones was arrested for suspicion of burglary.

“Just seemed like his path was earmarked for something drastic to happen,” Sepkowitz said. “He worked his way out of the friends he knew in El Paso, and went with people who took him down wrong paths.”

Sepkowitz played football at New Mexico State University before starting his career at Andress in 1965.

“Forty-seven years has really gone by pretty fast,” said Sepkowitz when he announced he was stepping down after the 2011 season.