After going wire-to-wire as the #1 team in the country, and collecting a mythical national title, Bobby Acosta is leaving IMG Academy (FL) after one season.
In that one season, IMG went 8-0 and dominated opponents, outscoring them 381-82 on the year. One of those wins was a convincing 41-14 win over Duncanville HS (TX), who was ranked among USA Today's top 25 programs at the time.
Del Valle HS (TX) announced Acosta as their new leader of the program over the weekend. Del Valle is a school with some of the nicest facilities in high school football, and services just over 3,100 in the high school, according to data available in 2018-19, and the ISD serves 11,000 kids across 15 campuses.
Before taking over at IMG, Acosta was a college coach with stops at St. Scholastica (D-III - MN), Bucknell (FCS), Cornell (FCS), and Syracuse).
“I knew I found my new home after meeting with Athletic Director Tawni Angel and Superintendent Tielle,” Acosta said in a news release from Del Valle. “Del Valle has a culture of excellence and wants to infuse our students with the tools needed to be successful."
"I am committed and motivated to make this one of the best programs in Texas and the country. I am excited to meet our new families, players, teachers, coaches, and everyone who will help build this program into something special. We want to make Del Valle the place to watch one of the best games ever invented.”
Acosta replaces Charles Burton, the longest tenured coach in school history who stepped down after eight seasons and a 29-51 record that included one playoff appearance. Caleb Burton, the son of the former Del Valle HS head coach and a 5-star wide receiver, announced that he won't be playing for the school following his father's resignation.
At IMG, the program is searching for their third head coach in three seasons now. The next coach that takes over the Ascenders will inherit nine returners who are considered some of the top prospects in the 2023 recruiting class, a place that is a unique destination for the top talent in the country, and a schedule that includes more travel than a lot of college programs where they will go far and wide to schedule some of the best high school teams in the country.
In his social media farewell to IMG, Acosta notes, "I will take a piece of everyone on my new journey."