Bill Moon doesn't have a reclamation project in front of him.

Manny Medina did that.

So Moon will be making additions to a football program instead of setting its foundation.

The former Capital and Santa Fe High head coach was hired by Española Valley as its new coach Monday.

Moon replaces Medina, who took a program that had canceled the final two games of the 2004 season and turned it into a respectable program by 2007.

The Sundevils were 5-5, the second-most wins in the program's history and only its second non-losing season in their history. Medina was 9-21 in three seasons, but 9-11 after an 0-10 start in 2005.

Moon expressed his gratitude for walking into a situation that is vastly different than the ones at Capital, Rio Rancho (where he coached for three years) and Santa Fe High.

He started up two programs in Capital and Rio Rancho, while the Demons were 3-8 the year before Moon took over. Moon-coached teams have produced a 78-93 record in 17 years.

'Manny and his staff laid some groundwork for things, so I am very fortunate,' Moon said. 'I've never taken over a team that was 5-5, a non-losing team.'

Moon said he didn't think he would ever be afforded an opportunity like this, having been four years removed from being fired at Santa Fe High in December of 2003.

He has been practicing law for a private firm in Cedar Crest, before he became the right fit for what the school was seeking.

'We were interested in somebody that has good experience and a good perspective on the commitment to interscholastic education and how it works at the high school level,' Española Valley athletic director Dave Fontaine said. 'He's somebody who has coached before and somebody who can fit into the faculty.'

Moon will be a social-studies teacher at the high school beginning in August.

Moon said he plans to begin his job in earnest on May 12, and he feels Medina has done a remarkable job in rebuilding the program.

'What he did makes CPR look like easy work,' Moon said. 'What he did is just extraordinary.'