Hall-of-Fame coach Albert Pardo finds himself back in coaching
Albert Pardo was the head coach at South Miami from 1992-2018. He will be taking over the Miami Southridge program this fall. (Photo courtesy of Albert Pardo).
BY BRANT PARSONS —Being a wrestling coach was never part of the plan for new Miami Southridge head coach Albert Pardo.
In fact, the Hall of Fame coach’s competitive career in the sport lasted only three months.
When Pardo was a senior at South Miami, his brother was a sophomore on the wrestling team. The elder Pardo going out just so his younger sibling could have a decent partner.
Pardo, who had competed in judo since he was six, joined the team.
After graduating, Pardo continued to come into the room and be a practice partner for his brother while going to Miami-Dade Community College. The following season, Ken Dodd took over as head coach and didn’t have an assistant. With Pardo’s brother still on the team, he was offered a paid assistant spot that he would hold for the next two seasons.
“I fell into it,” Pardo said of coaching. “I just wanted to help out my brother and I guess I was kind of good at it.”
College was still calling and after finishing at Miami-Dade, Pardo found his way to San Jose State where he excelled in judo and won a national title.
The next step for Pardo was going to be earning a doctorate in psychology — he had already been accepted into a PhD program when he received a call that changed everything.
Legendary athletic director James Colzie rang up Pardo a month before graduation to tell him that South Miami was looking for a wrestling coach - and he wanted Pardo.
“I got accepted into medical school and I’m going to do that and not coach,” Pardo responded.
Pardo remembers the reply.
“You’ve been going to school for your entire life,” Colzie said to Pardo. “Why don’t you come and coach for a couple years and have a good time and when you’re 25, you can go back and go to medical school.”
South Miami’s 1992-1993 wrestling team, the first year Albert Pardo was the head coach. (Photo courtesy of Albert Pardo)
Pardo would coach at South Miami for the next 26 years.
“Once I was in I was pretty much hooked,” Pardo said. “I enjoyed the kids, I enjoyed the time and teaching, I enjoyed having summers and Christmas off and I’ve never been too much about money. I live on what I make and I value time and enjoy myself more than I value money.”
Over those 25 years at South Miami, coached seven state champions, ten state runners-up and over 30 state placers.
In 2000, the Cobras were runners-up to Miami Southridge in the Class 3A team race. South Miami also had eight top ten finishes under Pardo.
Pardo decided to step away from coaching in 2018, citing struggles with getting support from those above him at the school. He stayed on teaching at South Miami, content that his coaching career was in his past.
Then another call came to change his plan again.
South Miami’s 1999-2000 wrestling team finished second in the state — behind champion Miami Southridge. (Photo courtesy of Albert Pardo)
Humberto Miret, one of Pardo’s former wrestlers and an assistant coach to Pardo for 10 years at South Miami, is now the principal at Miami Southridge and his son Ryan is on the wrestling team.
Over last year’s Christmas break, Miret called his former coach and asked if he could help his son, who had shown promise, get better.
“He told me that his son really needed my help and I couldn’t say no to that,” Pardo said. “So, I started helping him two days a week.”
The Southridge head coaching job came open after the season and Miret was on the phone again.
“He said that his son really enjoyed having me around and since I was already there twice a week, why don’t I just come over there,” Pardo said.
It was another offer that Pardo couldn’t say no to, but it did mean that Pardo would be leaving his alma mater behind.
“I really never wanted to leave South Miami,” Pardo said. “It’s always been my second home. When I was coaching, the joke was that I lived at South Miami and I went to this place called home just to sleep.”
Pardo is again on a different path than planned but he’s excited about the chance to coach at Miami Southridge.
He says he will finish his career there in 7-8 years and he plans to coach the Spartans until he retires.
The man who never intended to be a head coach in the first place, is now back in the role again he thought he was done in.
“I didn’t want to be a head coach again because I didn’t want to start a program and go through the whole struggle all over again,” Pardo said. “But here at Southridge we have a good thing going.”
Pardo is happy to be in a program that has a vibrant kids club and to be working for an administration that will supply the things needed to support the program.
“We have a wrestling room that looks like a college wrestling room,” Pardo said. “There’s money to travel and there are no shortcuts to be taken. There’s nothing for me to struggle with, I get a lot of help and they’ve cut out a lot of the stuff that I’m averse to.”
“All of it just seemed like a good idea.”
ABOUT ALBERT PARDO
Married to Tania (28 years)
Kids: Alexa, Albert Jr., Angelina
High school: South Miami
College: San Jose State
Head coach: 26 seasons (South Miami 1992-2018)
State champions: 1998: Maikel Miret (275 pounds); 1999: Jason Turner (135 pounds); 2000: Gage Estopinan (171 pounds); 2000: Markel Shropshire (275 pounds); 2003: Dennis Kakrah (119 pounds); 2003: Javier Estopinan (215 pounds); 2004: Javier Estopinan (215 pounds)
Best team state finish: Second, 2000
