The world is larger than life for John Layfield (’89), aka John Bradshaw Layfield, JBL or any other of the half-dozen nicknames, initials and other handles the former Wildcat great has answered to in the last 20 years. And for three weeks during the recent ACU football season, he added another entry to his wildly varied vitae: football commentator. Layfield was the color analyst for three ACU games broadcast this past season, two on the radio and one on regional television. Growing up in nearby Sweetwater, the youngster was an ACU ball boy who became hooked on pro wrestling and Wildcat football. He eventually became an agile, quick-footed offensive lineman who starred for ACU despite playing his senior season on one good leg. The other he once simply taped up when his fibula broke in the next to last game, and he continued to play. He became all-conference, all-America and was eventually named to ACU’s all-decade and all-century teams. His success collegiately took him to NFL training camp and
JEREMY ENLOW
Layfield returns to broadcast games of a team he knows well
the Los Angeles Raiders’ practice squad. When the World League of American Football opened in 1991, Layfield saddled up with the San Antonio Riders and spent the season protecting, among others, Jason Garrett, who went on to play quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, for whom he is now head coach. By 1992, the damage from the leg injury sustained in college had all but ended his football career. Of course, when you weigh 275 pounds and stand 6 feet 6 inches, one of your options includes professional wrestling. On a tip from a teammate, Layfield learned the craft by training with Olympic and pro wrestler Brad Rheingans and soon had matches booked around the world. He signed with the Global Wrestling Federation where he began performing under many monikers, including John Hawk, at the Dallas Sportatorium. His big break came in 1995 when he signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), whose CEO Vince McMahon changed Layfield’s
stage name to Justin Hawk Bradshaw, which became Blackjack Bradshaw and finally John Bradshaw Layfield. His popularity and performance steadily grew, peaking in 2004 when he became WWE champion using a plotline that was anything but fictitious. As JBL, he presented himself as the J.R. Ewing of Wall Street. But Layfield wasn’t all hat and no cattle futures. He’d actually spent those first few years after football learning the finer points of the stock market and even wrote a book about investing that landed him a recurring role as a guest on cable television business shows – all while he continued to wrestle. Later, he transitioned to announcer for the weekly WWE broadcasts. It was around that time that the Layfields made another transition. With neither having a job tethering them to a particular place, he and his wife, Meredith, left New York City for Bermuda, where John founded a program to help kids caught up in gangs escape to a better life through playing rugby. Football player, professional wrestler, investment analyst, TV announcer, youth advocate. He may not be The Most Interesting Man in the World, but Layfield remains a tough guy to pin down.
– GRANT BOONE
SP OR T S DIGE S T Football coaching staff announced New ACU head football coach Adam Dorrel wasted little time in filling out his coaching staff, announcing 10 hirings in late December 2016. Two coaches with ACU ties are now on the staff, including former Wildcat defensive back and NFL standout Danieal Manning (’07), who returns as an undergraduate student assistant working with safeties. Manning is 38 credit hours short of earning his bachelor’s degree, which he will finish while coaching at ACU. Derron Montgomery (’11) – who coached at the University of Miami and University of Michigan before serving as the offensive coordinator at New Mexico Highlands University
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in 2016 – joins the ACU staff as the fullbacks / tight ends coach. Montgomery is the son of ACU’s all-time leading rusher Wilbert Montgomery (’77), who had a standout NFL career as a player and coach. Former Northwest Missouri State University quarterback Josh Lamberson – who played for and later coached for Dorrel at NW Missouri State – is the new offensive coordinator, while former University of Sioux Falls defensive coordinator Tremaine Jackson was hired to the same position at ACU. Lamberson most recently spent two seasons as head coach at the University of Nebraska-Kearney and will be Dorrel’s assistant head coach.
Former NW Missouri State assistant coach Ryan Gent is wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator, while another former Bearcat assistant, Blake Andersen, will be defensive line coach. Former Colgate University assistant coach Jordan Brown is the new linebackers coach, while former University of New Mexico all-conference defensive lineman Jacori Greer will help coach the defensive line. Former Oklahoma State University quarterback J.W. Walsh – who was a graduate assistant coach at TCU last fall – is now the Wildcats’ running backs coach. The only coach retained from the previous ACU staff is defensive backs coach Ray Brown.