From the NFL and Arena Football League, Manor New Tech's Derrick Lewis shows experience

When Derrick Lewis was named head football coach at Manor New Tech, he was given the keys to a brand-new $8 million indoor practice facility.

And while Lewis, 48, brings a spirited, high-energy addition to New Tech football, the practice facility represents much more. Lewis and principal Bobby Garcia said upgraded facilities at Manor New Tech and Manor Senior High — which also boasts a new indoor practice facility — proves this growing community is willing to spend top dollar to build winning athletic programs.

Those athletic facilities were part of a $280 million bond package voters approved in 2019. The bond also called for the addition of two new schools for the district.

Speaking of growth, the city of Manor has nearly doubled in size in just four years. Manor, which had 13,652 residents in 2020, has expanded to 23,916 in 2024.

"This place is primed," Lewis said.

Lewis is the conductor of a locomotive that's beginning to find its tracks. The former head coach at LASA moved to New Tech when LASA announced in March that it will compete in a non-honors schedule, including games against charter schools, the next two years.

Lewis' first order business has been to change the football culture at a school that's unaccustomed to success. The Titans have gone 15-43 over the past six years. When New Tech ended its 2023 season, it had just 35 players on varsity and did not field any sub-varsity teams. This year New Tech will have roughly 60 players in uniform when August rolls around.

Manor sees progress with new coach, practice facility

"My first step is to get kids excited about playing football by showing them they are physically improving and learning how to play the game," Lewis said. "Uniforms and helmets create a certain kind of hype, but when kids see they are getting better and are physically growing, that's what's creating a buzz on campus."

Lewis appears to be the right man to coach New Tech. For starters, he led LASA to a 6-4 record in 2023 just one year after going 2-8. When he arrived at New Tech, he galvanized the team with positive rhetoric and by organizing daily sessions in the weight room, a place the Titans rarely utilized before Lewis was hired.

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But who is Derrick Lewis?

Lewis was a football, basketball and track and field standout during his high school days in New Orleans and went on to play wide receiver at San Diego State. He signed an NFL free agent contract with his hometown Saints in 2002 and also spent time with Tampa Bay and Houston.

Following his playing career, Lewis said it was "a calling" to stay in football as a coach, adding that he taught all six of his sons to play the game. His oldest four earned college scholarships to play football. He has two younger boys, Dane and Duke, who have not reached high school yet, but he fully expects them to follow in the paths of their older brothers.

There were hardships and a bit of luck along the way.

On Aug. 29, 2005, the same day that Hurricane Katrina destroyed his family's home in New Orleans, Lewis was cut by Tampa Bay. FEMA would provide funds for the family to live in a hotel in nearby Lafayette for seven months. News about Lewis and his family spread, and the Houston Texans took notice.

After being cut by Bucs, former coach reached out

The following season, Lewis received a phone call from current 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who was the offensive quality control coach of the Buccaneers when he was released. In 2006 Shanahan went to the Texans as a wide receivers coach and remembered Lewis from their time together at Tampa Bay.

Lewis, who had just wrapped up a season with the Austin Wranglers' Arena Football League team, signed with the Texans for the 2006 season. He had helped himself by setting AFL single-season records for receptions (48) and yards (1,495) before being named the league's rookie of the year.

Starting the next chapter of his life

Lewis played for two other arena league teams before retiring from football for good in 2011. That's also the year he started coaching at a high school in New Orleans. He moved to Austin in 2018 and coached at Dobie Middle School before taking assistant coaching positions at Del Valle High and LASA.

On a personal note, Lewis said he learned a valuable lesson from former Pro Bowl wide receiver Joe Horn of the Saints. Lewis said he considered Horn his mentor during their one season with the Saints.

Horn offered the following advice: "Without commitment you'll never get started. Without consistency, you'll never finish."

Garcia, who has been with the school since it opened in 2007, said Lewis has already "revitalized and reinvigorated" a community that has seen more downs than ups when it comes to high school athletics.

"The (indoor practice facility) is a good indicator that not only are the taxpayers invested in having success that we haven't had before, but in other ways they are looking for ways to make up some of the inequalities that existed in the past," he said.

Garcia said that New Tech has 593 students but expects to expand to 650 in the next academic year.

Christian Salazar, a freshman quarterback last fall, said he and his teammates have upgraded their workouts under Lewis and their commitment to the weight room is already paying off. Salazar, who spends five days a week lifting weights, said he has grown from 160 to 180 pounds by adding muscle.

"You have to realize (Lewis) has been in the NFL," Salazar said. "He played on good teams and he knows what he's talking about. He's not just saying stuff to say it. Our school is 100% in good hands with coach Lewis. Our culture is on the rise."

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Salazar got his first glimpse of the indoor practice facility, which is 55 yards long, when it opened just last month.

"I was like, wow, I'd never seen anything like it," he said.

Wide receiver Kevin Botchway, who will be a sophomore in the fall, said he has grown from 150 to 165 pounds because of his newfound dedication to the weight room. He claims he has found "a different kind of energy" since Lewis came aboard.

"When (Lewis) came in, the energy he brought with him commanded respect," Botchway said. "He's a positive person who wants us all to succeed."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Better culture and lifting weights among new changes at Manor New Tech