by: Courtney Burkholder
Throughout Chris Troilo’s 42 years, there have been two recurring themes shaping his life: football and family. Over the years, each has influenced the direction of his personal journey, leading him from San Antonio to Lubbock to the mountains of Utah and back again. And today, as a football coach and teacher at his high school alma mater, both continue to play an important role in his life.
A 78209 native, Chris grew up playing catch with friends on the streets of Terrell Hills. One of five children, he attended Alamo Heights High School, where athletics—football in particular—was at the top of his priority list. Academics, on the other hand, were near the bottom. “I wasn’t much of an academic, but I got by,” he readily admits. This honest self-awareness helped him make an important decision that would alter his life forever. Instead of filling out college applications his senior year, as most of his friends were doing, Chris looked into the military.
In 1986, following high school graduation, Chris joined the Army, where he served two years in the field artillery. “I knew I was poorly equipped to have any success in college,” he says. “I had zero self-discipline and poor study habits. I would have been doomed if not for the military.”
But as they say, the military whipped Chris into shape, and following his stint in the armed services, he returned to Texas and enrolled in Texas Tech University, where he earned a degree in English literature. His tenure at Texas Tech also afforded him the opportunity to return to one of his great loves, playing football. As a walk-on all four years, Chris was a running back and a special teams player for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Following graduation, he returned to Alamo Heights, where he tried a variety of occupations from mortgage broker to waiter, but failed to find a profession about which he was passionate. “I wasn’t satisfied in any of the jobs I’d held. I just knew I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to be doing,” he says.
In 1994, with nothing to lose, Chris packed his bags and headed north to Park City, Utah, where his older brother lived. Almost immediately, he fell in love with the mountains and the quaint town of Park City, and after several years of waiting tables and saving his pennies, Chris and his brother pooled their money and opened a restaurant. “Davanzas is kind of the Chris Madrid’s of Park City,” he says proudly. “It’s still there, and my younger brother runs it now.”
It was during his years managing Davanzas that Chris again felt the call of the football. “One of my cooks was a high school student at Park City High School,” he explains. “He knew I had played college ball in Texas, and he told me the high school was looking for a head freshman football coach. On a whim, I went and met with the head coach, and he offered me the job. I did it for one year and was hooked.”
For the next four years, Chris did it all: managing Davanzas and coaching the freshman football team as well as serving as an assistant varsity coach for the Park City Miners. In 2002, the local newspaper ran an article about the pizza-cook-turned-football-coach that made its way back to his alma mater and into the hands of the Alamo Heights athletic director, Gaylord Fenley, his former coach and mentor. “Coach Fenley contacted me and said if you ever want to come back, we might have a place for you,” Chris recalls. “I’d really hit a turning point in my life. I really enjoyed coaching, and Alamo Heights was the upper echelon of high school football,” he says. “I also wanted to be closer to my family. It seemed like a win-win.”
Chris took Coach Fenley up on his offer, and the following year, he interviewed with Head Coach Don Byrd, who offered him a job as an assistant coach. Chris left Davanzas in his brother’s capable hands and returned to San Antonio. He spent a year at Our Lady of the Lake University, earning his master’s in education and his general teacher’s certification. And the rest, as they say, is history.
For the past 10 years, Chris has served as the Alamo Heights freshman head football coach as well as the varsity offensive line coach. He also teaches freshman English and is the debate coach. “I enjoy the classroom as much as I enjoy the football field. There are a lot of parallels, and teaching is teaching,” he states. “I really enjoy working with freshmen. They’re still very idealistic and easy to motivate. They get fired up easily.”
Though he admits to missing the mountains, Alamo Heights is home and for now, Chris is here to stay: “There’s really nowhere else in the greater San Antonio area I would want to be. Alamo Heights is unique; the people are very interconnected. Now I have the opportunity to coach my friends’ kids. I have a nephew and several second cousins who attend the high school. Two of my godchildren are here. Those relationships make me vested in Alamo Heights.”
Along with working in Alamo Heights, Chris makes his home in the 78209 zip code, an area of resurgence known as Mahncke Park. “It’s great!” he comments. “The quality of the neighborhood has been steadily improving over the past three years along with Broadway’s resurgence. It’s a great place to live and work.”
As far as Alamo Heights’ chances of winning a state championship this year, Chris had this to say: “Our chances are always legitimate. We have one under our belt, so it’s a real possibility for our program.”
