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| Texas Lutheran athletics file photo |
Carl Gustafson will succeed Danny Padron as head football coach at Texas Lutheran, university president Stuart Dorsey announced Nov. 17.
Gustafson will be the 21st head football coach in Texas Lutheran history. He takes over for Padron, who retired Nov. 12 after seven seasons as head coach. Padron led TLU to three Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships and a 2014 NCAA Division III playoff berth.
Texas Lutheran and Southwestern join the American Southwest Conference as affiliate members in football starting in the 2017 season. With the addition of Southwestern and TLU, ASC football will number 10 teams playing a nine-game league schedule. The additions also signal a return to a 10-team football alignment for the first time since 2005 and will make the ASC the 10th NCAA Division III conference with at least 10 football teams.
Coaching alongside Padron for the 2014 and 2015 TLU football seasons, Gustafson worked as the offensive line coach and as director of football operations. Gustafson's head coaching experience includes stints at San Antonio Christian High School (2016), Winston Churchill High School and New Braunfels Canyon High School. Gustafson is expected to re-join the TLU community and the football program in December.
"I'm walking on a cloud," said Gustafson. "I really am very excited and humbled. Danny Padron is my best friend. We first coached together back in the 90s, and I have learned so much from him.
"I believe we stand for the same things. (Danny) has done a remarkable job with the program, and it is a sincere privilege to be handed the baton. We will do our absolute best to advance the TLU football program."
In his two seasons as offensive line coach and director of football operations, Gustafson and the Bulldogs went 17-4, won a pair of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championships and advanced to the playoffs. In that season, the Gustafson-coached TLU offensive line paved the way for running back Marquis Barrolle to lead NCAA Division III in rushing (1,792 yards) and he was position coach for TLU All-American offensive guard Kendall Wilkerson, who recently was named to the All-Time Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference team.
A graduate of UT-Austin, Gustafson holds a Master of Science degree in school administration from Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville).