Coach Damien Ocampo is Socorro’s Renaissance Man

 

Socorro’s Damien Ocampo plays many roles in the city he loves. He is a financial advisor and insurance agent with State Farm, a city councilman, a loving father and husband, a devoted son, a youth minister, and a reluctant head football coach who quietly recorded his 100th win this past season.

That’s correct, Socorro’s head football coach would gladly pass off the reins to another coach – but it would have to be the right coach. Perhaps someone who is also a bit of a Renaissance man might fit the role?

Before Warrior football fans start feeling a little ill, Ocampo doesn’t want to stop coaching, and he wants to be involved in Socorro football, but he’d rather call the shots as an offensive coordinator. It’s not that Ocampo doesn’t like being the head coach; instead, it’s about letting athletes know what it’s like to have someone who can be a full-time coach.

“In a perfect world, I would be an assistant coach, supporting a head coach who can be there daily. Having someone who can be there full-time as a coach is pivotal to teaching boys how to become men and teaching them how to be responsible adults who can serve people,” Ocampo said.

A Coach’s Son

The middle son of Al and Laurie isn’t afraid of additional duties, and if Ocampo has a fault, it appears that he can’t say no when someone comes to him with a worthy need or cause.

Serving others is a character trait instilled in Ocampo by his parents. Al was a long-time football coach until a stroke took away his ability to speak two years ago, and Laurie is a long-time school administrator and the current principal at Parkview Elementary school in Socorro.

Two seasons ago, Al was preparing to take over the Warriors football program from his son when he had his stroke. Suddenly the man who had lived through the 1965 Watts Riots “and is straight out of Compton” could no longer speak.

Football was Al Ocampo’s escape from the ghettos of Los Angeles, and his scholarship to Brigham Young University led to his coaching career. Ocampo and his brothers learned to be the new kids in town every 2-3 years.

“My Dad is my hero,” Ocampo said.

Despite his father’s inability to speak, the two have developed a communication system, and Al makes all the home games. Once Ocampo has finished talking to his team and doing media interviews, he makes his way over to “talk” with his father and he gets a quick after-action review.

His stroke hasn’t stopped Al from working behind the scenes, and he keeps busy by going over game films and charts during the week. Father and son coach out of the same vein, but their careers have been vastly different regarding the challenges they wanted to take on.

“I think his calling was to find people that needed him to build programs, and he wanted to go to different communities,” Ocampo said. “And I think whether he realized it or not, he wanted us, his family, to get out there and meet people and to try to make communities better. To try to be an impactful family on a community.”

NM Player of the Year

Along the way, Ocampo developed the desire to be a football player and a coach, and after playing his final two years of high school in Socorro, he also knew he had found a place where he could sink deep roots.

“I always wanted to be a football player. To me, those guys were larger than life. When I was growing up, I was always on the field with my dad during summer practices and the season,” Ocampo said.

Ocampo had a dynamic high school football career. His football smarts and work ethic led to his being the Warriors’ field general. In his senior season, he was named the New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year.

Ocampo didn’t fit the mold of a college quarterback in 1998, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in physical ability and that aforementioned work ethic. His quarterbacking style was much like the NFL’s Doug Flutie, who could extend plays with his feet.

“I feel like I was born a generation too early. Because back then, there wasn’t the zone read and a smaller quarterback that can pass and run all over the place,” Ocampo said. “Back then, it was a tall guy, and there was no way you would run a quarterback because he would get hurt.”

But Ocampo was that smaller kind of dual-threat quarterback with a cannon for an arm, and that’s why New Mexico State came calling. Ocampo would see significant playing time as a freshman and sophomore and it looked like he would be the starter his junior season, but a clash of personalities with one of the coaching staff led to a transfer to Western New Mexico.

Over the next two years at NMU, there must have been some sorrow as Ocampo flourished at Western New Mexico.

“Coach Charley Wade was super excited about using me, and he built everything around me. It kind of felt like I was going back to high school, and the offense was geared toward my strengths at quarterback,” Ocampo said.

The Coaching Bug

Wade’s ability to mold an offense around Ocampo led to him becoming one of the most prolific passers in Western New Mexico history. It also continued to fuel Ocampo’s passion for becoming a coach.

Before all that happened, there was a two-year stint with Aggie football as a television commentator, which only made Ocampo’s desire to call the shots grow deeper.

“I did that for two seasons, and I got further bit by the coaching bug. I didn’t want to travel as much as I did as a child, and my kids were starting to grow up. UNM offered me another season, and although I was enjoying it there was a chance to be a head coach here in Socorro, and I thought it was simply better for my family,” Ocampo said.

That was in 2007, and Ocampo would lead the Warriors to a 7-4 record and a berth in the state football tournament in his first year. Over the next seven seasons, he would lead Socorro into the playoffs six times.

In the classroom, he was teaching history, and as time went on, his mind kept crunching numbers and looking at the opportunities and challenges of working as a financial advisor running through his mind.

A Time for Change

In 2013 the chance to work with State Farm lured Ocampo away from the classroom, and he took the opportunity because it also worked into his mindset of helping others.

Helping others also led Ocampo back to the football field three years later when the Warriors program had gone through two coaches and an 11-19 record over three seasons.

The first season back was a little rough with a 4-7 mark, but the Warriors made the playoffs for the first time in four years, and they have been regulars ever since.

Socorro has won five straight district titles and made competitive runs at a state title each year. Without any fanfare, it appears Ocampo picked up his 100th win as a Warriors’ coach when Socorro beat Cobre on the road on October 29 last year.

A Life of Service

In true Ocampo fashion, the accomplishment wasn’t mentioned much like the volunteer work he and his wife, Kathleen, and their children do throughout the year.

Two years ago, the Ocampo family took up the responsibilities of the annual Food Drive for Christmas in Socorro. Ocampo’s friend Toby Jaramillo and his wife Ermie started the drive in 1969.

In an El Defensor Chieftain article about the event, Ocampo explained why he picked up yet another responsibility that serves his community.

“I took it over two years ago in memory of Toby and Ermie and the Jaramillo family, and we are determined to keep it going,” Ocampo said.

Toby and Ocampo knew each other so well that when Toby passed away, the Socorro City Council appointed him to fill his friend’s vacant position.

Despite his willingness to give up the head football coaching position in Socorro, that’s not likely over the next two seasons as the heir apparent at quarterback next season is Ocampo’s son, Isaiah, an All-State defensive back who also started at wide receiver and played sparingly at quarterback behind first-team All-State signal-caller Marcus Armijo.

With all the hats he wears, it would be fair to call Ocampo a Renaissance man, but he’s also a romantic when he talks about one of the keys to his success – his Socorro High School sweetheart, Kathleen.

“She’s an angel. She does everything. She’s a mom and a youth minister leader. She’s worked with the schools. She’s directed programs working with children. I’m blessed she really is my best friend, and she’s very beautiful inside and out,” Ocampo said.