2003 Dickinson High Graduate Makes His Mark In The Alamo City
BY MICHAEL SUDHALTER
The Post Newspaper Contributing Writer
Stephen Sherman, a 2003 Dickinson High School Graduate, earned a Master’s Degree in Organizational Development from Abilene Christian University, and it’s served him well over the past 15 years.
Sherman’s been on the ground floor of not one, but two start-up athletic programs – both in the City of San Antonio.
He’s currently the Deputy Athletic Director-Internal Operations for Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
As one of only two assistant/deputies to AD Darnell Smith, Sherman wears a lot of hats – from eligibility, compliance, and finance to sports information.
If you’re not familiar with A&M-San Antonio, you’re not alone. The campus opened in 2009 and began competing in intercollegiate athletics in 2021.
The Jaguars started with softball and men’s golf and have since expanded with men’s and women’s basketball and soccer.
The university has approximately 8,000 students and is the only four-year university on the south side of San Antonio. It’s one of the fastest growing universities in the United States.
The Jaguars currently compete in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) of NAIA, but University President Salvador Hector Ochoa has a vision to where the athletic program will be competing at the NCAA Division II level before, too long.
A look at the University’s long term potential means that going Division I at some point is inevitable.
Sherman joined A&M San Antonio in 2020, stepping away from a remarkable 11-year-run at Our Lady Of The Lake (OLLU), an NAIA Program in western San Antonio.
At OLLU, he coached men’s and women’s track & field and cross country and also served as the assistant athletic director.
OLLU did not have athletic programs before Sherman’s arrival in 2009.
“How many times do you get an opportunity in your career, twice, to create a legacy and tradition that nobody can take away from you?” Sherman said. “It’s an amazing opportunity to be on the forefront of intercollegiate athletics and really put your mark on something like that.”
Sherman was in his early 20s – and just two years removed from his undergraduate track and cross country days at McMurry University – when he accepted the head coach position at OLLU.
“It was an awesome opportunity,” Sherman said. “I didn’t even understand the significance of it at the time. I thought I was young and hungry, though I could take on the world.”
He led the Saints to 11 RRAC Championships, but he said the turning point was the 2013 Women’s Cross Country Team.
“That team didn’t have any scholarship money,” Sherman said. “It was a really big deal, We didn’t have any business winning the conference championship. It was a highly motivated group, and they pulled off the impossible. That championship brought resources at OLLU, awarding us with scholarship money and got that train rolling.”
Sherman, of course, recruited the San Antonio area, but he also developed strong recruiting ties in the Rio Grande Valley – a trend that continues today at A&M San Antonio.
He enjoys this period of his life, where working as an administrator has significantly cut down on his traveling and recruiting time. It fits just right, since Sherman and his wife, Megan, are the parents of two young children.
Sherman originally grew up in La Marque but moved to Dickinson as a second grader in 1992. His father, a Dickinson High graduate, still calls the city home. Sherman has fond memories of family outings at Rogers Malt Shoppe in Dickinson.
He competed in all sports but grew more interested in cross country and track while at McAdams Junior High School, crediting his McAdams teacher/coach Michael Meador with boosting his love for the two sports.
Sherman made Regional Cross Country Meets for the Gators and by his own admission was a “decent” high school distance runner.
Sherman graduated fifth overall in the DHS Class of 2003 and earned an academic scholarship to McMurry University in Abilene, via the McMurry Honors Program.
Going from tropical Galveston County to the mid-Texas plains of Abilene was an adjustment, but one that Sherman welcomed.
He earned a double major in History and Political Science at McMurry with plans to enroll in law school.
Sherman figured he’d still go to law school, even though he accepted an opportunity to serve as a McMurry assistant coach in 2008. That was the season that the McMurry Men’s Track & Field Team won the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field National Championship.
After the 2009 season, he left McMurry for the OLLU position. The rest is history.
