Mustapha Muhammad, Ed Pustejovsky, and Keondre Coburn win Touchdown Club of Houston awards. Vype
Originally appeared on Vype.com.
HOUSTON—The 38th annual Touchdown Club of Houston Awards dinner was held on Wednesday at the JW Marriott Hotel in downtown Houston.
Cy-Fair High School coach Ed Pustejovsky was named the John Kelley Coach of the Year, Ridge Point tight end Mustapha Muhammad won the Dick Peebles Offensive Player of the Year Award, and Westfield defensive tackle Keondre Coburn won the Clark Nealon Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Pustejovsky has been nominated seven times for the Touchdown Club of Houston Coach of the Year Award. Cy-Fair is in the state semifinals for the first time since 1985 this season, and the Bobcats are seeking their first-ever state championship game berth.
“It means a lot, first of all just the type of person Coach Pustejovsky is to be nominated seven times and to see him to win it, I don’t think there was anyone more deserving this year,” Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District Athletic Director Ray Zepeda said. “It’s an honor for us in Cy-Fair ISD to have coaches like Coach Pustejovsky representing our school district.”
Pustejovsky is the second only Cy-Fair ISD football coach to win this award. He joins Ronny Peacock, who won it as the coach of Cy-Fair High School in 1999.
Pustejovsky is in the midst of his 14th season at the helm of Cy-Fair football with a 114-53 record. Under his leadership Cy-Fair has won four district championships and has made the playoffs nine times.
Coburn, who is committed to the University of Texas, is only the second-ever defensive player from Westfield to win the defensive player of the year award.
Coburn joins Westfield legend and current University of Houston player Ed Oliver, who won it in 2015, to claim the accolade.
“It means a lot, especially coming from my school, joining a great player as Ed Oliver,” Coburn said. “It means a lot to my school, me, my family, coaches and all that. We’re going to keep it going at Westfield. It’s D-line nation.”
Muhammad, who is verbally committed to Michigan, became the first-ever player from Ridge Point to claim the offensive player of the year award.
“It’s great because our program is on the rise still,” Muhammad said. “Guys before my time laid the foundation and they set the standard at Ridge Point. I just kind of took it and ran away with it. Just continued to improve my game and be a great leader amongst my teammates.”
Muhammad is the first player from Fort Bend ISD to claim the award since Bralon Addison of Fort Bend Hightower won it in 2011.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.