Texas A&M - Kingsville Athletics

Michael Salinas took over the role of Athletic Director in November 2024, having served in the role in an interim capacity prior to taking on the job full time. While in the interim AD role, Salinas was finishing his fourth and final season as the head coach of Texas A&M-Kingsville football after being hired following the 2019 season.

Salinas was the 12th coach in the history of Javelina football and has a 19-15 record across his four seasons. He coached the first all-American since 2012 for the Javelinas in Amos Coleman (2022 first-team AFCA all-American) to go with nine first team all-conference selections and eight second team all-coference selections for the Lone Star Conference.

Salinas began his coaching career at Texas A&M-Kingsville from 2002-2004, where he was an assistant to Richard Cundiff coaching the secondary. The Javelinas took part in two NCAA Division II playoff appearances during this time.

From there, Salinas was the defensive coordinator at West Texas A&M for the 2005 season. He then went on to be the special teams coordinatior at Sam Houston State University (2006-2008). His time in Huntsville, Texas, was followed by stints at Harlingen South High School in 2009 and 2010 with another stop at the collegiate ranks in 2011 at Hardin-Simmons in Abilene, Texas.

Salinas was tasked in 2012 with the opening of Robert Vela High School in Edinburg, Texas. There, he was responsible for building the athletics program and the football team from the ground up. He was a three-time Your Valley Voice Coach of the Year from 2013 to 2015 and compiled a 31-5 record over three years starting in 2014. His most recent stop before Texas A&M-Kingsville was at Welasco High School for the 2018 season.

Before his coaching career started, Salinas was a three-year letterwinner for the Javelina football program from 1995 to 1999. He was part of three LSC Championship and two West Region Championship teams under Ron Harms. Salinas is married to Javelina Hall of Famer Lesley Zambrano.