Defender Zac Portillos Is Excelling With The Rowdies After Nearly Being Out Of Soccer

For Zac Portillos, being a professional soccer player was never a part of the plan.

After a noteworthy college career in which he was a regular starter for the University of Akron, Portillos moved home to Colorado last December to live with his parents and start looking for jobs in the corporate world.

Knowing he still wanted to be around sports, Portillos arranged for interviews with Kroenke Sports Enterprises, the company that owns the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and MLS’s Colorado Rapids in Denver, as well as the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.

The week before his interviews, Portillos got a call from Stuart Dobson, who had recently been hired by the Tampa Bay Rowdies as goalkeeper coach. Dobson joined the Rowdies from Akron, where Portillos had played.

By this time, it was late January and the Rowdies were about to hold an invite-only combine in hopes of finding players for the 2015 season. Dobson knew Portillos had the skillset to be a professional. Portillos agreed to attend the Rowdies’ tryout, but wouldn’t try out anywhere else.

“I definitely wasn’t planning on playing soccer,” Portillos said. “My life plan was getting a desk job at a sports agency. That was my next step in life. [Dobson] called me and asked me what I was doing. I wasn’t doing anything, so I agreed to come down for a tryout. Instead of staying for three days, I ended up staying for about a month straight. Instead of going home for my two interviews, I decided to stay here and try my luck at the Rowdies.”

Now, Portillos’ life is on an entirely different path. He’s traded in the suit and tie he expected to wear to work for a jersey and cleats. The rookie left back has started each of the Rowdies’ first two NASL matches, contributing to a team that has only given up one goal and sits atop the NASL Standings.

“It’s been a tornado of emotions and different plans in life that I never thought would come about,” Portillos said. “I went from living with my parents and getting ready to start my first real job to getting to come to practice every day and just have fun. I was planning on having to be in a suit and tie every day. It’s been quite the change, but it’s been awesome.”

Saturday night, Portillos marked Minnesota United FC’s midfielder Miguel Ibarra. Today, Ibarra is in San Antonio with the United States Men’s National Team.

“It was my first home game as a professional so I was pretty nervous,” Portillos said. “It was scary and it was exciting, but I feel like I learned so much. As a team, we played well, but as an individual, I think I played well against Miguel. I felt confident after the game, and I think we showed the fans how much we care about the Rowdies.”

As he grows into life as a professional soccer player, Portillos has one very cool resource to lean on – Tottenham Hotspur and U.S. Men’s National Team defender DeAndre Yedlin.

Yedlin and Portillos arrived at Akron at the same time and formed an instant bond. Yedlin played right back, while Portillos was a left midfielder, so the two battled against each other every day in training. They even ended up living together for a while before Yedlin signed with the Seattle Sounders. Portillos and Yedlin chat about once a month.

“It’s been cool following him as a fan and now as someone trying to follow in his footsteps,” Portillos said. “He’s helped me out in terms of learning what professional life is all about. DeAndre caught me up on how to deal with agents and all of the things that I needed to learn about what to do in certain situations as a pro.”

Playing soccer may not have been in Portillos’ plan three months ago, but now he’s living the dream and making a name for himself. At this point, it’s probably safe to say that Portillos should plan on playing for at least a couple more years.