By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
LYFORD — The Lyford CISD school board approved the hiring of Gerry Jauregui to be the next athletic director and football coach for the Bulldogs on Monday.
Jauregui has been working for the Lyford CISD for 14 years. During his first 11 years, he served as the middle school athletic coordinator, a defensive line coach, varsity inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator for four seasons. He also led the powerlifting program for seven years before moving into an administrative position in 2018 as the high school assistant principal.
Though he has been out of athletics for three years, being an athletic director has long been a goal for Jauregui, and he couldn’t pass up the chance when the job opened up.
“When the opportunity presented itself, I threw my name in the hat and God’s plan led to this. I am ecstatic,” Jauregui said. “It’s been a dream of mine to be an athletic director, run my own athletic program, so words can’t explain the feeling. I was so, so excited and fortunate that Lyford gave me the opportunity to represent their athletic department.”
Jauregui is replacing Israel Gonzalez, who left in January to take the athletic coordinator/football coach position at Harlingen South. Gonzalez was 27-15 in his four years at Lyford, advancing to the postseason each year and making two trips to the area round. Jauregui and Gonzalez grew up as childhood friends in Primera, and both graduated from Harlingen High.
Even when he stepped away from athletics, Jauregui stayed familiar with the football team because of his relationship with Gonzalez. He regularly watched the games and stayed on the team’s Hudl account to keep up with the athletes, and he had honest conversations with Gonzalez about what he saw in games. Jauregui will take inspiration from Gonzalez and his predecessor, longtime Bulldogs coach Jaime Infante, as he takes the reins.
“I’ll take a little bit of what I learned from Coach Infante, a little bit of what I learned from Coach Gonzalez, blend that together and make it mine,” Jauregui said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to, the fact that it’ll be my program and we can make some adjustments. I’m going to do the same things athletic directors have done in the past, I’ll look at the whole program and see what areas we can improve.”
Some things Jauregui wants to improve are the ways Lyford communicates with the community and showcases current and former student-athletes. He plans to use his experience from the administrative level to build Lyford’s social media presence across different platforms to keep the community informed with goings on from the program. He also aims to strengthen and maintain relationships with the kids that go through the program.
“We’re never going to forget our own,” Jauregui said. “When they graduate, I want to show them off, that they graduated from wherever. Doesn’t have to be a four-year degree, people get a technical degree, welder, AC, I just want to show off that our athletes are doing this out there in the real world.”
The relationships Jauregui has developed throughout his 14 years in Lyford were evident when word of his hiring was released. Former and current Lyford players and coaches expressed their excitement on social media and reached out to Jauregui personally to congratulate him.
Knowing that he has the support of the Bulldogs community has Jauregui feeling excited and thankful for the new journey. He has started studying up for the football season, and he’s ready to keep building on the multitude of success all the Lyford sports teams have acquired throughout the years.
“We’ve had a lot of success in the last 14 years I’ve been here, in all the programs. We don’t want to get complacent, so we’re going to keep striving to get better, keep pushing our kids and keep pushing the coaches as well,” Jauregui said.
“I’m not from Lyford, but I’m from Lyford. My whole career I’ve been here. I’ve had opportunities to leave but never left. Lyford just has a place in my heart, and it’s become my home,” he added. “I’m grateful for the opportunity that Lyford has given me, for the administrators, our board members, and most of all our students. I can’t wait to get back into it. All glory to God, it was God’s plan and I’m just so grateful.”