🏈 The Story of Stonewall

By Frankie "The Horn" Calderon
UTSA Roadrunner Media Correspondent, Host of "Runner Nation Radio"

📌 Disclaimer:
The following post is a work of fiction created for entertainment purposes within the video game universe of College Football 26. All characters, events, and storylines — including Coach Clay “Stonewall” Merritt, Frankie “The Horn” Calderón, and their journey with the UTSA Roadrunners — are entirely fictional and not affiliated with the NCAA, UTSA, or EA Sports. This series is fan-made and meant to celebrate the spirit of college football storytelling.

A New Chapter Begins in San Antonio

As we sit in his film room at his new house in San Antonio, surrounded by boxes and old whistles, I ask Coach Merritt what his coaching philosophy means for his team and the fans to understand. I noted my surroundings better as he pondered, which he often did. This was the final stage of the move-in process. Coach Merritt had landed with his wife Tracy at San Antonio international not four hours prior, and already with machine-like efficiency, they had nearly unpacked their lives, which they brought with them from the Central Rockies in Gunnison, Colorado. Every box was in order, scrawled in clear writing exactly what was inside and where it would best go in the new space.

"I think it comes down to learning to control what you can control and focus your best effort on what you desire. Epictetus once said, 'Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.' At times in my life, it felt like I had so little control until I realized that control is something nearly no one can possess. All we can do is put our best foot forward each day and continue working to improve ourselves. I don't ask my players to control the outcome, I ask them to control their effort to accomplish our collective goal."

From Rifle to the Alamo City

I came to learn over the weekend that this was what coach spends so much time pondering, he is careful in what he says and what he does, but that does not mean when he is on the sidelines or the field himself, that he doesn't come at his opponent with every bit of fire and ferocity he has—born in Rifle, Colorado to a coach father and a ranch hand mother. Clay Senior was the town coach at the high school and began working with his son in minor league football. Merritt was always in the center of the action, a quarterback and middle linebacker coach, but no one would have known until he blew past you into the end zone or swiped your crossing pattern for a pick-6. 

His hard work paid off, and the father-son duo claimed a state championship in his last season in the small town. His mother, Nancy, never dreamed of leaving the city herself. "It was a hard place to get to, and a hard place to get out of. I love my simple life, and it suited Clay while he was growing up. He worked hard without being asked. He was a model student, and people naturally gravitated to his quiet leadership. He has my intensity with his father's football knowledge; every player who has been his teammate or his player as a coach knows if they follow Clay's lead, they will get where they want to go."

Gunnison Roots and a Mountaineer Rise

When he went to college, it was not like he was going to the "Big Apple." he moved three hours away to Gunnison, Colorado. There, he played middle linebacker for the Western Colorado University Mountaineers, a program in NCAA Division II competition, as a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) member. While the team's success was never at the championship level, his presence kept football consistent in the Gunnison Valley during a time following the legendary coaching tenure of Duke Iverson. The Mountaineers consistently finished in the top 3 of the conference after nearly a decade of losing seasons. Clay decided that instead of pursuing a personal career at the next level, he immediately began his career coaching at his Alma Mater.

As a coach, the program renaissance was completed within five years, when he led the Mountaineers to an RMAC championship and a Division II playoff bid. Never a recruiting class full of flash, he focused on the people he could see his work ethic in, kids from small towns across Colorado and eventually into Utah and New Mexico who also worked like demons and focused on outworking instead of out-talking their opponents. At this time, Dr. Lisa Campos began courting the man who had never lived outside of the Rocky Mountains. 

The Call from San Antonio

In a controversial move at the time, Campos decided that while coach Jeff Traylor had come in and corrected the program from an embarrassing start to their FBS tenure, there was more to be done to get UTSA football up to the standard of the other Schools in the Lone Star State. When asked, Campos stated that the challenge was all she needed to entice Merritt to leave. "We knew he wouldn't leave while under contract, but we also thought he realized there wasn't much more he could do at Western. San Antonio might not have mountains, but some ranches and ranchers live the life he grew up living. Add in the pedigree of football in Texas, and he told me he would do what he can to bring the reputation this campus deserves.

Meep Meep! The Rise of the Roadrunners

In the most anticipated time this commentator can remember when talking about the Roadrunners of UT San Antonio we will be covering it all! Every week, you can join me, Frankie "The Horn" Calderon, to catch all the heart-pounding action, and keep reading to stay up to date on the Rise of the Roadrunners! See you at the end of fall camp, Meep Meep!