BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
McALLEN — McAllen Memorial’s Jaryd Lara did not believe a day like Thursday — signing a letter of intent to play Division I football at Abilene Christian University — would ever happen to him.
The reason for his line of thinking wasn’t about a lack of confidence in his abilities as a football player. Lara was one of four Valley players named to the AP’s Class 6A all-state second team after putting together an impressive senior season with 135 total tackles, 95 of them solo, 16 tackles for a loss, 12 quarterback hurries, three fumble recoveries and two interceptions. He simply couldn’t envision a DI football offer extended his way. As Lara signed his letter of intent inside McAllen Memorial’s gym on Thursday afternoon, he overcame his own doubts.
“To be honest, I never thought I’d sign at a DI school,” Lara said. “In the back of my mind, I kind of knew I wanted to play somewhere. Near the end of my senior year, I had thought my senior year’s football games were going to be the last football games I’d ever play.”
How Lara became an Abilene Christian Wildcat does not resemble a typical story for a prospective Division I athlete.
“I applied to ACU and I had never been to the school before,” Lara said. “I only applied because a couple guys from church applied there and said they loved it. I didn’t even know where Abilene was.”
When Lara’s academic counselor noticed he put “football” on his college resume, she decided to prod him further to think about walking on at ACU.
“‘ACU’s known for having walk-ons play for their team. Have you ever thought of something like that? It’s up to you. I can send them some of your film and information if you want,’” Lara remembers his counselor saying.
Lara didn’t think it would hurt, so he allowed his counselor to go ahead and send his tape to the Abilene Christian football program. Two weeks after the conversation with his academic counselor, Lara got a phone call from Jordan Duncan, the assistant offensive line coach from ACU, while he was at work.
“I had to put the coach on hold at first, because I was about to meet the mayor of McAllen at the same time,” Lara said.
After the brief pause, Lara got back on line with Duncan.
“He said, ‘Hey, this is Coach Duncan from Abilene Christian University. We watched your film, we’ve evaluated you, and we want to offer you a spot on our team,’” Lara recalls. “And I was just blown away.”
Lara then called his mother and gave her the news. Everything was happening all at once.
“We had already thought about ACU, not as a school for me to play at but a school to attend as a regular student,” Lara said. “The offer came in. I went to Abilene, met the coaches and saw the facilities.
“It’s just a blessing.”