The whole reason this Season 1 reboot succeeded was because of Emilio! The people watching this are watching for nostalgia....watching for EMILIO (Coach Gordon). No one will watch this without him no matter who takes his place. Disney should know this; only a brick wall would think this could thrive without him. Perfectly casted, well-scripted, and contagiously funny - all for Disney to cast someone else instead of working out a deal with Emilio. Pretty sad knowing this show will be canceled soon because of contract disagreements. Way to go Disney on ruining such a good show - one of few.
(This season was perfect, and only got better with each episode as the characters and the show's humor really shined. Coach Gordon was nothing short of amazing, a sarcastic middle aged man who fell off the horse only to redeem himself through being the kind hearted man he always was. Alex was also amazing and had chemistry with all of the teammates, including Gordon. Really couldn't get better than this amazing cast.... such a shame for Season 2)