Erik Padilla headshot

Erik Padilla named to Athletic Director post at Dunn Middle School

Bruin alum will oversee sports programs, teach P.E.

UCLA Transformative Coaching and Leadership Program (TCL) alumnus Erik Padilla has been named Middle School Director of Athletics at Dunn School – an independent academy in Santa Barbara County, school administrators announced earlier this summer.

A 2023 graduate of the TCL Program, Padilla will also teach physical education courses, while overseeing Dunn’s eight separate boys and girls sports offerings, which include volleyball, swimming, triathlon, basketball, tennis, running, track and cycling.

Erik Padilla coaching football player
Erik Padilla serves as the defensive backs coach for Santa Maria High School’s varsity football team. Courtesy photo

Speaking of the parallels between teaching in the classroom and coaching on the field, Padilla says several of his TCL courses, including Principles of Effective Teaching and Coaching, influenced his decision to seek out his new role at Dunn, following a decade of work as a football coach and paraeducator at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, California.

The Santa Maria native says having UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies Associate Dean of Public Engagement, Dr. Annamarie Francois, teaching a course alongside 11-time NCAA softball champion and three-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, Sue Enquist, taught him the importance of building frameworks and structures to support his work as an educator.

“As teachers, coaches and leaders we must always remember that we ourselves are always learning,” Padilla says. “(And my instructors) influenced and guided me to find clarity in my own philosophy and coaching principles.”

Padilla, who also coaches football, currently at Santa Maria High School, believes the most important aspect of education is creating an environment where students feel empowered, a sense of belonging and a sense of ownership. He credits current Santa Barbara High varsity football head coach Nate Mendoza for giving him his first coaching opportunity in 2012. 

“It’s all about youth development and helping our student athletes learn life lessons through sports,” adds Padilla, who grew up playing football, ran track and wrestled. “It’s about producing student athletes who can go out and become strong members of their community.”

Down the road, the TCL graduate says he hopes to one day work as an educator in the public school system. His hometown of Santa Maria, “located an hour north of Santa Barbara on the central coast of California, is a predominantly Latino community,” Padilla explains. 

“A majority of the people who work there are migrant farm workers in a very agriculture driven city.”

As a Latino male, he says he feels a strong calling to step into a role where he can influence other young Latinos and use athletics as a vehicle for learning.

Dunn School

Located in Los Olivos, Dunn School serves just over 250 students. The campus is home to six tennis courts, four athletic fields, a heated swimming pool, full gymnasium, volleyball courts (one indoor, two outdoor), basketball courts (indoor and outdoor), a rock-climbing wall, bouldering facility, cardio room, weightlifting room, cross-training facility, and a jogging track. Dunn also boasts the premier baseball field and training facility in the region, completely rebuilt and opened in 2015.

“I’m looking forward to meeting all of my students at the middle school, building relationships and getting to know them, Padilla says. 

Padilla, who serves as the defensive backs coach for Santa Maria High School’s varsity football team, earned his undergraduate degree in Art from California State University, Northridge. He resides in Santa Maria with his wife, Janette.

Learn more about UCLA’s Transformative Coaching and Leadership Master of Education program.