Kenny Nez, U'16
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Why did you choose to attend the University of Saint Mary, and what made it stand
out from other colleges you considered?
I got recruited to play football. USM was one of the few colleges that gave me a chance.
What have you been up to since graduating from Saint Mary?
After my last season in 2016, I moved back to Nevada and started teaching and coaching football. I am married and I have amazing kids.
What is your current job or role, and what do you enjoy most about it?
I am a 4th grade teacher in Sparks, and I coach the defensive backs at Reed High School. I love these jobs because I can mentor students and help them work to become active members in our community. We focus a lot on attitude and effort in the classroom and on the field.
How did your time at Saint Mary prepare you for your career?
My time at Saint Mary really did set me up for success for my career and for life. Our education department was one of the best and every professor did an amazing job preparing me for the classroom. Our football coaching staff really held the line and helped develop us as young men.
What is a memorable experience you had during your time at Saint Mary?
My most memorable experience from my time at Saint Mary was working at the Rockfest concerts in KC with the football team. It was a long and tiring job, but it was worth it.
Have you stayed in touch with any of your professors or classmates?
I usually stay in contact with most of the friends I’ve made here at Saint Mary. We usually get together during big events such as weddings. It is a bit hard though when we’re all spread out and different spots like Kansas, Texas, Nevada, and California. Luckily, we have social media so we can easily check in and see what’s going on in everyone’s life.
What advice would you give to current students or recent graduates?
The best advice I could give is something that was told to me, “Keep your head down and work. Look up now and again to see where you’re at. Make people around you better. Sometimes things will be hard but that is a part of life. Most of all enjoy more than one thing to create balance.” – Coach Amantia
This really helped me stay focused in the classroom and on the field, and I would say that it paid off.
How do you stay connected with the Saint Mary alumni network?
I get a lot of my updates from the Saint Mary alumni social media platforms.
What hobbies or interests are you currently pursuing?
Football still consumes most of my time throughout the year with coaching. Aside from that I love spending time with my family and living an active lifestyle. We spend a lot of time outdoors camping, fishing, hunting, and working out.
Do you have any favorite Saint Mary traditions that you still cherish?
My favorite Saint Mary tradition was carrying out the hammer during the football games. The hammer was given to the player that had the biggest hit in the game, and that created a lot of good competition between the players. I also enjoyed our traditional PCBRs with the football players.