Photo by Paul Brick
Longtime Chaparral assistant coach Jeff Montgomery (24, right) will take over as the head coach of the Westlake baseball team after Jim Darilek announced his retirement last week.
When it came down to it, Jeff Montgomery knew Westlake was where he was going to stay for a long time.
Throughout 15 years as a coach and teacher in some capacity at Westlake, Montgomery has helped the baseball program excel under longtime coach Jim Darilek, and following Darilek’s retirement last week, he’ll now have a chance to lead the baseball program into the future as he was named the new Chaparral head coach Tuesday.
Montgomery had offers over the years to move to another program to become a head coach at such places as La Grange and some schools in Houston, but he was never willing to leave Westlake, happy to keep working on building the Chaparrals programs until his opportunity came along.
“Coach Darilek and I talked a lot about how the future of the program would be and things like that,” Montgomery said. “I was willing to work with Jim for as long as it took. We have a great relationship – I got to see his kids grow up … he has a great sense of family.”
The more time Montgomery spent at Westlake, the more he wanted to be an integral part of the community, the school and sustaining the Chaps’ athletic success.
“I was getting other offers here and there; it was nice and flattering,” Montgomery said. “I was faced with that and talked to [former football coach] Derek Long a couple of times, and it really brought me to tears that I might be leaving the Westlake area. This will be my 16th year here; you fall in love with the community. I like their expectations, their work ethic. There’s so much to love about these people.”
After Darilek retired July 19, coaches contacted Westlake interested in the head coaching vacancy, but there was little doubt that the right man for the job was already in the program.
“There’ve been some inquiries, but it’s something we’ve been thinking about for some time,” athletic director and football coach Darren Allman said. “Jeff has been grooming himself, and coach Darilek has been grooming him for this opportunity. He’s a great asset for this campus. He’s very knowledgeable and has got a lot of respect from the staff and the kids.”
Montgomery said he plans to continue focusing on character as he takes over the reins of the program after soaking up the intricacies of what builds a winning program, and he has plans to take the Chaps to the top. He previously coached the JV1 and JV2 teams before becoming the varsity assistant and also teaches senior English.
“I think the interesting aspect of walking into a program like this is. No. 1 it works, it’s a good system,” he said. “But at the same time, I’m big character kind of guy – having good character on your baseball team is invaluable. The amount of character your team has and willingness to work hard is something I’m going to be able to really instill in this year’s guys. The last couple years haven’t gone far in the playoffs – this year it’s time to put nose to grind stone, do some work and go deeper in the playoffs.”
The search is on to find a replacement assistant coach for the varsity baseball squad, and because Montgomery will move into coaching baseball full time, he’ll vacate his post as defensive line coach and a search is already under way to fill that spot, Allman said.
“Jeff has a great vision to try and take the program even to another level,” Allman said. “There are certain guys out there we could talk to with outstanding résumés, but they’re not necessarily the right fit for us. He put a lot of years into this school and program; he’s earned the right in my eyes. I’m real excited about him getting this opportunity.”
After graduating from Brownwood High School, Montgomery went on to Howard Payne University and coached baseball at Rockport-Fulton before coming to Westlake in the fall of 1997. He and his wife, Karen, have a daughter, Paige, who will be a freshman at Westlake this year, and a son, Josh, who is going into sixth grade at Cedar Creek Elementary School.
“I want my kids to grow up in this system,” Montgomery said. “My wife is 100 percent supportive. That’s the greatest thing. We feel like this is the place we’ve been called to.”
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