LASA hires Del Valle offensive coordinator Derrick Lewis as new football coach
LASA has hired a varsity football coach with ample experience at the NFL, college and high school levels.
Derrick Lewis, 46, officially takes over on July 1, but he is already preparing for his first season at LASA, the Austin school district's magnet school for science and liberal arts. He takes over for Bryan Crews, the former football coach and athletic coordinator who recently left to take a position at El Paso Mountain View.
Lewis, who spent the last two years as offensive coordinator at Del Valle, said he's eager to take on a football team that has had minimal experience. LASA students competed at LBJ until the start of the 2020-2021 academic year.
"That's the beauty of it all," Lewis said. "I can put my fingerprints all over the program and develop the athletes who are already here. With student-athletes, the student comes first. We have an academically successful school and the objective is to continue that. But we want to grow the sports program within it because there are some really good athletes in the building. It's more about the culture and accepting sports as an opportunity to go to college."
LASA competes in all UIL-sanctioned sports. That will include water polo, which becomes an official sport for Texas high schools this year.
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Lewis, who went to high school in New Orleans, made a name for himself as a wide receiver at San Diego State University. He signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2002. After spending two seasons with the Saints, he played two more with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and one with the Houston Texans. He spent the 2006 and 2007 seasons with the Austin Wranglers.
Athletics provide "life lessons" that are valuable long after students graduate, he said. He added that Fortune 500 companies employ many former athletes because they are accustomed to "camaraderie and teamwork."
Among the athletes he has helped develop at Del Valle are Josh Cameron (Baylor), Darius Lewis (Southeastern University), Braylon James (Notre Dame), Dajon Harrison (UConn), Caleb Burton (Ohio State) and De'Jon Lewis (Our Lady of the Lake).
LASA principal Stacia Crescenzi said Lewis brings a "lot of positive energy" to the school and has a "depth of knowledge on a variety of sports."
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Crescenzi added that Lewis is eager to work with all of the sports teams at LASA, including the girls teams.
"He has a philosophy that matches well with the campus' philosophy in terms of putting the experience for students in the forefront," she said. "That was a big part (of his hiring) for us."
Lewis has also coached at AISD's Dobie Middle School.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Del Valle's Derrick Lewis hired as new football coach at LASA Austin
