Why we were named Archie Duran...

Arcadio “Archie” Duran, a longtime educator and coach, was considered a hometown hero by former students and co-workers. He is remembered as an advocate for children and a supporter of student athletes.  

Archie Duran was born in 1968 and grew up in Northeast El Paso, having attended Lee Elementary, Magoffin Middle and Irvin High School. From a young age, Duran excelled as a student and athlete. He lettered in track, football, and soccer at Irvin. His senior year he was named an All-District player in soccer and track. 

Duran earned a track scholarship for New Mexico State University where he met his wife, Maribel. He eventually graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a degree in history. Maribel and Archie had three children, all of whom attended EPISD schools and developed their father’s sense of community pride and love for sports. 

Duran was a track and basketball coach at Irvin High School and previously taught and coached at Jefferson/Silva High School. He is widely known as an advocate for any and all students to participate in athletics and is fondly remember for asking his student athletes if they were having fun while participating in sports. 

“If you are having fun at what you are doing, it isn’t work,” he is remembered as saying. 

Coach Duran died tragically in 2017 in an accident involving a bus carrying his track team back home from a regional meet in Lubbock.