Las Vegas High football coach Erick Capetillo is shown at practice Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Later this month Capetillo will spend three weeks as a Bill Walsh Coaching Fellow in the Atlanta Falcons training camp.
Saturday, July 24, 2021 | 2 a.m.
Erick Capetillo’s grandfather arrived at the family’s east Las Vegas house one weekend morning and asked his grandsons if they wanted join a football team. Little did the young Capetillo know that day would lead him to a football coaching career and a taste of the NFL.
As a young child, Capetillo had immigrated to the United States, and ultimately Southern Nevada, from Mexico — where soccer is king and children naturally flock to the sport. Football was a relative unknown.
Truth is, their grandfather could have suggested any activity for Capetillo and his brother that morning and they would have jumped at the chance to get out of the house for a few hours.
Turns out, grandpa picked the right sport. A few minutes into that initial football practice as a fourth-grader, Capetillo was hooked.
“I just loved the game,” Capetillo said. “I remember watching the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos going way back. I loved watching Terrell Davis, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith. Even though I played on the offensive and defensive line, you couldn’t tell me I wasn’t going to be the next Michael Irvin.”
Capetillo remained a lineman, helped Las Vegas High School win two state championships in the mid-2000s and advanced to the collegiate ranks at University of Mary, an NAIA school in North Dakota.
Along the way he realized that reaching the NFL as the next Michael Irvin or Terrell Davis wasn’t realistic. Becoming the next Ron Rivera — the Washington Football Team’s coach and fellow Latino — became Capetillo obsession.
Now the coach at Las Vegas High, the 32-year-old will get his baptism in the NFL over three weeks starting next week as a Bill Walsh Coaching Fellow in the Atlanta Falcons training camp. The diversity initiative gives up-and-coming coaches a chance to observe and participate in camp, where Capetillo will work with the Falcons’ tight ends and running backs.
The hope is that the exposure and experience gained at the camp will lead to a full-time NFL coaching gig.
“It’s hands-on learning,” Capetillo said. “They are really trying to mentor you so you can be a full-time position coach in the NFL, or whatever your coaching dreams are.”
Capetillo applied the past five years for the fellowship but kept receiving rejection letters. He reached out to Marquice Williams, his former college teammate and an NFL assistant who got his start in the program, to ask for pointers to enhance his chances.
One suggestion was sending handwritten letters to coaches and team officials expressing the desire to be part of the organization. Capetillo penned letters to five franchises explaining his strengths and passion for football. The Falcons, where Williams is the first-year special teams coach, liked what they heard.
“That’s one of the things about the Hispanic culture — we are hard workers,” Capetillo said. “I am a firm believer in hard work. This is the type of opportunity you pray for, you hope for. I really want to prove I can coach with the best of the best coaches. I can be one of those guys, a difference maker for guys from my culture.”
Capetillo takes much of his coaching style from two men — former Las Vegas coach Kris Cinkovich, who went on to coach at UNLV and spend two decades in the college ranks, and lineman coach Art Plunkett, who played six years in the NFL.
Plunkett, who now lives in the Pacific Northwest, has remained a confidant, especially when it comes to piecing together a game plan for Friday nights. When Capetillo needed help being accepted for the fellowship, Plunkett penned a letter explaining how his former pupil would be a great choice.
“Just a very good kid, a very smart kid,” Plunkett said. “He knows the game of football. Even from a young age he knew how to formulate plays. He was always thinking out of the box and always in the best interest of the team.”
That team, of course, will be without their head coach for a crucial three weeks of summer training. The high school season starts Aug. 20.
“Obviously I am bummed about leaving my team for those three weeks,” Capetillo said. “But, like I preach to the team, you have to reach for your goals, reach for your dreams and attack them every day. Hopefully I can prove myself to the (Falcons).”
And, ultimately, he hopes to be a trailblazer for Latinos in football. Las Vegas High has a predominantly Latino enrollment, meaning many of the players in the Wildcats program come from a similar background as Capetillo. Just like Capetillo, they love the sport.
“I’m hoping I can make an impact with some of the kids in the Hispanic community,” he said.
