By: Sean Cartell
UTSA Senior Associate Athletics Director
SAN ANTONIO – Former UTSA track & field student-athlete Darryl Wyrick made the most of the opportunities available to him as a Roadrunner and, in the process, left a lasting legacy for generations to come.
When UTSA student-athletes graduate, they don a stole that says “Student-Athlete,” signifying the journey they completed balancing high-level athletics and academics. The stole was Wyrick’s idea and he helped bring it to life more than a decade ago.
“I saw a need for an athlete graduation stole and I said ‘I’ll design it; can we make it happen?’” Wyrick said. “Everyone wants to do something that leaves a lasting impression. To do something that is lifelong, that’s even better. When you wear that on graduation day, it represents the sacrifices over the past four years, the days you wanted to give up and stop, the pain at practice and the celebrations. To know that I had a hand in that, it means a lot.”
Wyrick, a hurdler who also ran on UTSA’s 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams, grew up in a military family in Texarkana, Texas, and learned the importance of discipline early in his life.
“I was raised by two marine parents and my path was laid out,” Wyrick said. “I give a lot of credit to that type of upbringing even though, during that time, I didn’t always like it. As an adult, I appreciate that lifestyle and that discipline a little bit more.”
When it came time to make his college decision, Wyrick wanted an environment where he could learn to be successful away from home and one that would allow him to compete at the highest level on the track.
“I am from a small town and I had different offers, but there were two main things for me,” Wyrick said. “I wanted to go somewhere I would get a ring. Under [UTSA head track & field coach] Aaron Fox, one thing that was guaranteed is that you would get a ring. Also, I wanted somewhere that would force me to grow up, and seven hours away from home will force you to grow up. I got plugged into the university because that was my support system.”
Wyrick took advantage of every opportunity that was available to him as a student-athlete, not just those that existed within athletics. He was a representative on UTSA’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, took part in numerous student organizations and served as a campus student orientation leader.
Wyrick enjoyed his opportunity to connect with students from across campus and expose them to the world of student-athletes.
“You get the wow factor at first,” he said. “There is the respect factor of being someone taking 15 hours, competing in a D1-level sport and managing the life of being in college. I got asked ‘When do you sleep?’ a lot. But there’s also the humility piece of entering their world. You show them it’s not just about you as an athlete. I was in the same boat as them and was a student just like them.”
Wyrick’s coaches and teammates were supportive of his campus opportunities, although he admits he didn’t always share the full breadth of his involvement with them. He believes that student-athletes who are interested in following his example will find it very rewarding.
“You’re doing a disservice to yourself if you just stick within the realm of athletics,” Wyrick said. “Go to the library and use the university resources. That’s where you expand your network. Your net worth will be your network ultimately. It’s not just who you know but who knows you. Not everybody is interested in athletics. You always have to meet people where they’re at. If you do that, success will follow you.”
Wyrick credits Fox and former assistant coach Adam Hudson with helping him realize his potential and instilling an understanding of the discipline and hard work it would take to realize his goals.
“Coach Fox sets you up for anything in life because you learn the discipline it takes to make it through,” Wyrick said. “It is ultimately the responsibility of the head coach to prepare you for real-world life. You also need to have fun in your chapter of collegiate athletics and he did that too. Coach Hudson showed me what it means to really push yourself past what you know. Coaches have a responsibility to see things in you that you may not see in yourself. Those two really shaped who I am today.”
Wyrick, who earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from UTSA, thought he might initially want to be a track and field coach. By the time he was ready to graduate, Wyrick was considering a move to Los Angeles to become an actor and model, before a chance meeting with a UTSA professor.
“I ran into Mark Giles, who was a professor at UTSA at the time,” Wyrick said. “He started talking to me about grad school. I told him, ‘thank you, but I’m good.’ The closer I got to graduation, I reached back out to see if grad school was still an option. That’s when I went to grad school and really focused my plan on what I wanted to do. That created the fire behind my purpose and passion.”
Wyrick earned his Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in 2016. For several years, he worked in marketing and student development in roles at UTSA and later TCU. In May 2019, he joined American Airlines. Since that time, he has held roles in the airline industry and currently serves as Project Manager for Enterprise Systems with United Airlines in Phoenix.
“I support our enterprise systems, which is a fancy was of saying different applications that our airline runs off of,” Wyrick said. “What drew me to aviation was thinking about who people need to see when they’re younger. With the programs I have worked on now, if I had seen this when I was younger, I could have potentially been a pilot right now. The awareness isn’t there about the industry and the different opportunities. There is more than just flight attendants and pilots. There are marketing, legal, strategy and analytics and communications. You can have a voice and a place here.”
Wyrick has found that his time as a student-athlete has served him well in his career in aviation.
“The skills between athletics in general and aviation are definitely transferrable,” Wyrick said. “I love to speak from that perspective. You don’t have to know the technicalities of the industry as long as you have the character that’s open to learning you will succeed, regardless of the department. If you have the character that is willing to learn and willing to meet new people, you will succeed. Also, younger people sometimes don’t want to look stupid by asking questions. You have to be willing to say, ‘Hey, I don’t know this, we have this deadline, let’s get together and talk about this; teach me.’ That’s all parallel with sports.”
In addition to his role with United Airlines, Wyrick serves as a content creator. Recently, he has worked with Issa Rae, Walmart, and the Black & Unlimited Digital Development program. Through his passion for content creation, Wyrick has been able to participate in the NAACP Image Awards and a rooftop party with Issa Rae. He sees the opportunities in this space as unlimited.
Wyrick believes that all of the experiences – positive and negative – that he has had in his life have contributed heavily to the person he is today.
“One thing I say is that a smooth sea doesn’t make a skilled sailor,” Wyrick said. “A lot of times we think ‘Why me?’ during moments of adversity and don’t see that they are shaping the person you are on the other side of the storm. To every student-athlete at UTSA, it won’t always make sense because if everything always makes sense, you’re doing something wrong. It’s important to continue to put yourself in uncomfortable positions. In the weight room, when you’re exercising a muscle and you are able to add on more and more weight over time, the same is true with life.”
Wyrick has a constant visual reminder of his time at UTSA on his hand. It’s something he has looked at often throughout his journey.
“Inside of my class ring, it says ‘I came, I saw, I conquered,’” he said. “Most people put their first and last name or something that easily identifies them. I put that because I don’t feel like I left a stone unturned. I got my undergrad degree there, I won multiple championships, I got my grad degree there. I earned the Golden Feather Award, which recognizes undergraduate student contributions. That hashtag of #MoreThanJustAnAthlete, I embodied that during my time there.”