New Southwest baseball coach Myler familiar with school’s history
Bryan Myler IV is new to Southwest, but he has an awareness of the school and Southwest ISD.
Myler, who has been a Madison assistant coach the last four years, accepted the Southwest baseball position June 21. He replaces Matt Gomez who resigned after three years as coach.
A year ago, Myler applied for the Southwest Legacy baseball position. In explaining his interest in the position at Southwest, he cited former Dragons coaches Glynn Tschirhart and Bobby Behnsch.
“What I’ve known about Southwest is that it has a great baseball history, and that they’re never really down,” Myler said. “Coach Behnsch took them three rounds deep in the playoffs a few years ago and Coach Tschirhart coached there for (12) years.”
Under Gomez, who succeeded Behnsch, the Dragons compiled a 39-25-2 overall record and an 18-14 district record. Southwest (17-10-1, 9-5) won its last three District 28-5A games this spring to forge a three-way tie for third place with McCollum (20-10-1, 9-5) and Medina Valley (16-12, 9-5).
Medina Valley defeated Southwest 3-0 May 2 in a fourth-place tie-breaker game, keeping the Dragons out of the postseason.
“Matt did a great job with us,” Southwest football coach/athletic coordinator Alex Franco said. “We were very competitive. He had some injuries this season, but I felt like our season basically came down to one game.”
Myler’s father, Bryan Myler III, coached baseball at Kennedy, Lanier and Lee. So, his knowledge of Dragons history reflects a lifetime relationship with the game.
“Bryan has been in a good program and I felt like he has a good feel for the game,” Franco said. “His dad is a coach and has been a longtime umpire. We’ve liked him for other positions, including at Southwest Legacy, but the timing never was right — his timing or our timing.
“But we kept an eye on him and maintained a connection with him. We’re excited for Bryan. He has had good success coaching baseball and other sports.”
Franco indicated that Myler also would be a defensive secondary assistant coach on the Dragons football staff. Prior to Madison, Myler was an assistant coach for a year at Holmes and for three years at Central Catholic.
The Southwest coaches he mentioned both made their mark with the program. Tschirhart, a 21-year veteran who coached D’Hanis to a state championship in 1995, guided the Dragons to their first four playoff appearances. Behnsch took Southwest to the playoffs three times in four seasons, including a Region IV semifinal appearance in 2017.
Gomez took over in the 2020 season and Southwest was off to an impressive start when COVID-19 hit. The Dragons were 10-4 overall and tied for first place in 28-5A with a 3-1 record when the remainder of the season was canceled.
Behind graduated seniors Nate Gamez and J.P. Rodriguez-Zuniga, Southwest bounced back this year after a 12-11-1, 6-8 rebuilding season in 2021.
“I like that it’s not a rebuilding job,” Myler stated. “I’m going to bring a lot of energy and a lot of discipline and I’m going to ask them to work hard. I’m going to be hard on kids, but I’m going to love on them twice as hard.”
Key returnees for the Dragons include junior Jathan Razo, sophomore J.J. Gonzales and sophomore Brandon Castilleja, the 28-5A co-newcomer of the year.
“From what I hear about the kids, they work very hard and do what you ask them to do,” Myler said. “The community is very supportive.
“(The team) is young, but pretty talented. That’s going to be a good starting point.”
