Coach Marco Regalado on UTRGV Football, the Walk On Mindset, and Betting on Yourself

<p>UTRGV football is being built from the ground up, and Coach Marco Regalado is right in the middle of that foundation.</p><p></p><p>In this episode, Seth Saunders sits down with Coach Regalado to talk about his South Texas roots, his non-traditional climb through the coaching profession, and what it means to help build a new Division I football program in the Valley.</p><p></p><p>Coach Regalado shares how his football journey took him from Zapata, Texas, to Texas State, to creating a football club when his own playing path did not unfold the way he hoped, to grinding through Texas high school football, recruiting, player personnel, Rice, Washington State, and now UTRGV.</p><p></p><p>The conversation also covers Coach Regalado’s life as a Texas country music artist, the lessons he learned from mentors throughout the profession, and the walk-on values that shape the way he coaches: heart, hustle, toughness, humility, relentless effort, and doing the things that take no talent.</p><p></p><p>This is a conversation about betting on yourself, building belief before results, and shifting from proving doubters wrong to proving believers right.</p><p></p><p>Chapters:<br /><br />00:00 Introduction<br />01:47 Coach Regalado joins the show<br />02:11 Football coach by day, Texas country artist by night<br />07:57 Coming home to South Texas and UTRGV<br />09:00 Building a program from scratch<br />11:00 Recruiting belief before results<br />11:48 What UTRGV looks for in players<br />14:11 Coach Regalado’s non-traditional climb<br />15:14 Trying to walk on at Texas State<br />16:00 Creating a football club from scratch<br />17:11 Walk-on values and TNT traits<br />20:10 Coaches who shaped the journey<br />24:19 Washington State, Nick Rolovich, and taking a chance<br />25:58 Lessons from Rice and Mike Bloomgren<br />27:44 Coach Bush and the UTRGV opportunity<br />29:19 What players remember years later<br />31:34 Doc Brown's DeLorean <br />33:55 How to support UTRGV football</p><p></p><p>“Instead of trying to prove people who doubted you wrong, focus on proving every single person who believed in you right.”</p><p></p><p>“You’ll go very far in life if you work hard and treat people right.”</p><p></p><p>“We have to find tough kids that love football.”</p><p></p><p>If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe to <b>The Preferred Walk-On Show</b> for in-depth interviews with the coaches, players, and leaders shaping college football. New episodes every week.</p><p></p><p>T