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Legacy Academy, coming off a great season, has a new head football coach
Legacy Academy’s David Lavery, right, follows blocker Zachary Perea during an Oct. 4 game against Raton at Spartan Stadium in Bernalillo.
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Joey Romero tutored under some notable football coaches in his life.
First Jeff Lynn at Roswell, where Romero was a player.
Later, at the University of New Mexico, as a student assistant, under Bob Davie, Danny Gonzales and Rocky Long.
Now he has his own program.
The 27-year-old Romero will be the new head coach at Class 2A Legacy Academy, taking over from Bryan Clampitt, who resigned after the season and is moving away.
“This opportunity is something I’ve always dreamed for,” Romero said.
He has been Legacy’s defensive coordinator the last two seasons — in 2023 when the Silverbacks finished up as an 8-Man program, and this year in the program’s first season in Class 2A.
Legacy Academy enjoyed a 9-1 regular season, falling in the state quarterfinals to Loving.
“The biggest thing is, we still have a lot to prove,” Romero said. “By no means are we established, we have to approach every single day with a chip on our shoulder.”
Romero is a 2016 Roswell High graduate. He coached later that year with the Coyotes.
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From 2016-21, he was at UNM as a student assistant and graduate assistant where he learned under Davie, Gonzales and Long.
“Our philosophy is going to be the same approach I learned under Jeff Lynn, under Rocky Long … we’re gonna be the toughest team on the field,” Romero said.
Another challenge is to continue the success achieved in this first year of being an 11-Man program.
“It’s one thing to have success,” he said, “it’s another to sustain it. .. At Legacy Academy, there is a standard of excellence in everything we do.”
