Raiders, where he was activated on special teams. (In the 2004 and 2005 offseasons, he also played in Germany for the NFL Europe’s Frankfurt Galaxy and Cologne Centurions, respectively.) Interested in learning about our northern neighbors, Jimenez moved to the Canadian Football League for six seasons, where he played for teams on both coasts – the British Columbia Lions and Hamilton Tiger Cats. Schooling for his wife (also a Cypress Creek graduate) and the desire to be closer to relatives brought him and his family back to Orlando in 2012. His former football coach asked him if he would be interested in high school coaching, which set up Jimenez’s next play – studying for and passing the teaching exam. With a double major in political science and criminal justice, he landed a teaching position in June 2012 at Freedom High teaching U.S. History, while also coaching the football team’s defensive line. After two years of coaching, his focus for teaching became greater than the gridiron. “I love the sport. I would like to always be connected to football somehow, some way,” said Jimenez, who is also
treasurer and helps award college scholarships through the Orlando Former Players Chapter of the National Football League Players Association. “But coaching is a small part of the larger whole of teaching. … In order for me to become a better teacher, I need[ed] to give up football.” Fully focused on education, Jimenez welcomed input to improve his students and himself – with successful outcomes. In his 10-year career with OCPS, he has gone from being a social studies teacher to a dean at Freedom to assistant principal at Colonial High, assistant principal of instruction at Carver Middle to now principal at Legacy Middle. “A lot of what I learned from the sport aspect of football is easily translatable into my role now as a principal,” said Jimenez, who is in his first year. “It set that foundation for giving me a sense of, ʻHey, here’s the current landscape, here’s our next goal, how do we meet that goal?’” “So the same way with working with a group of teachers, students and parents – we’re a collective team. The same way that I had a team in high school and college and pro, we’re all we all have. We all have reason and purpose to do what we’re doing.”
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