Book Review: Still Undefeated by Brad Parrott and Jim Goodman

For the past 15 years I’ve been hearing different variations of “when someone finally writes a book about the start of UTSA football…”. I’m happy to report that day has finally arrived, and there’s no one more qualified to take on this task than the co-authors of “Still Undefeated: How UTSA Football Went from Forbidden to Significant”.

Outside of Lynn Hickey, Ricardo Romo, and Larry Coker, Brad Parrott (former UTSA Senior Assistant Athletic Director) and Jim Goodman (Senior Associate AD/Promotions, Public Relations & Broadcasting) arguably had more influence on UTSA football’s success than anyone else in San Antonio.

Parrott and Goodman peel back the curtain to give us an honest, no-holds-barred look into how UTSA leadership and the San Antonio community helped to make Roadrunner football a reality in the face of immense complications. Given the co-authors’ deep personal and professional relationships with so many of the people mentioned in the book, I was quite surprised to see how brutally honest the book was in how certain UTSA football skeptics and detractors were depicted, even among those that would maintain a prominent presence in the UTSA community for years.

While I acknowledge that I am perfectly at the intersection of a Venn diagram of the target demographic for this book (UTSA fan, obsessed with college athletics administration, voracious college football reader), I think this book will be an engaging read for anyone who hits one of those three demographic descriptions. It is an absolute must-read for any Alamo Audible reader/listener, especially those of us who were around for the program’s early days.

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Even as someone who has been obsessively steeped in learning about Roadrunner football history, I was able to fill a notepad with stories, observations, and explanations of UTSA football events that were new to me. I don’t want to give away too much, but one story from the book that really stuck with me was an account of a lunch between Hickey, Parrott, and then-State Senator Leticia Van de Putte.

Before UTSA could start a football program they needed to secure funding. Without a cadre of mega-rich donors bankrolling the program, elevated student fees would be the only realistic path to funding a competitive program. This required a state bill to be passed, and UTSA was looking for Van de Putte to sponsor the bill. As the trio sat for their lunch, Parrott explained how a football program would help get the “BUT’S” off of campus — “I’m a freshman at UTSA BUT I’m planning to transfer”. Those of us who were on campus before the football program bolstered campus pride are well aware of how demoralizing this common refrain was for students who chose UTSA over other options.

When a young server arrived at the party’s table, the state senator asked if they were a student at UTSA. They responded with “yes, BUT I am going to transfer after I finish up my freshman classes”. A completely unplanned moment that perfectly depicted what UTSA’s administration was trying to combat (mission accomplished, by the way), and earned Van de Putte’s support. The bill would pass the state senate, setting up the monumental student vote to increase their per-semester fees and spark the start of the football program.

A brisk 168 page read, the book is rich with stories such as these that show how resourceful and scrappy UTSA supporters were in starting up the program with minimal funding and tons of institutional barriers making their jobs more difficult than they should have been. I tore through the book in just a few days and stayed up until 1 am last night to finish the last chapter.

Outside of a few small nitpicks, my only main critique of the book is that there isn’t more of it. The book could have used a few more chapters to shift the focus to the players and coaches towards the end of the book. I think “Still Undefeated” leaves plenty of space for another UTSA football book to focus on the players’ and coaches’ perspective of the program’s early days, as I know there are countless interesting stories from fascinating characters waiting to be told.

Released on June 1st, 2026, “Still Undefeated” is available on Amazon in paperback, or as a Kindle eBook. The eBook is currently on sale for just $4.99, though I opted for a printed copy to make sure this important part of UTSA history retains a spot on my book shelf for years to come. As an added bonus, all proceeds from the book’s sale go to support UTSA football.

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