For this week's Member Spotlight, I was able to speak to San Antonio Veterans Memorial High School DL/ILB Coach Matthew Bullock. Coach Bullock has been around sports his whole life. His father was a former NBA player and started him out playing multiple sports when he was young, but Coach Bullock's first sport was always football. He played football from his youth through high school. He was then able to earn a scholarship to play collegiately at Texas A&M-Kingsville, where he had a successful career winning 3 Lone Star Conference titles. Even though there was a winning culture at Kingsville, the lack of resources made it tough. Coach Bullock credits the situation at Kingsville for a lot of the growth he has made as a person, and it taught him many life lessons. After finishing his college career, Coach Bullock did not pursue a professional career due to the toll playing had put on his body.  

Coach Bullock decided to go back to graduate school and get certified as a teacher. While he was getting certified, Coach Bullock became a substitute teacher at his old high school, John Jay. Coach Bullock began coaching at his Alma Mater coaching JV basketball, he then went on to take a job teaching at a middle school, where he coached multiple sports including football. After 9 years, he left to become the DL/ILB Coach at Veterans Memorial High School within Judson ISD, where he has been for the last 4 years. Coach Bullock has used his experience as a player to teach his players to be flexible, adaptable, and tough.

Recently, Coach Bullock participated in the XFL Fellowship, where he was able to work alongside the San Antonio Brahmas coaching staff for the last two weeks of their season. Coach Bullock said he felt welcomed and a part of the family. The Director of Team Operations, Jose Jefferson, was extremely helpful and gave Coach Bullock as many nuggets as he could. He also picked a lot from the coaches while he was on the sideline. Coach Bullock felt like he was able to soak up a lot of information while also building a relationship with his players and fellow coaches by being an "encourager" and energizer on the sideline. Coach Bullock also learned a lot from the DL Coach Paul Spicer as he was working closely with the Defensive Line. 

Coach Bullock looks at his father, his coaching mentor, John Danaher, and Bill Belichick as his role models as a coach. His father's success as a basketball player inspired Coach Bullock to work hard and reach his goals. Coach Danaher taught him how important it was to encourage his players and always having energy to let his players know he is consistent. He respects Bill Belichick's ability to create a system and stick to it while bringing in players that fit that system. There are other people Coach Bullocks respects, but these three played a big role forming his coaching philosophy.

*You can connect with Coach Bullock via email: