This former Red Raider football player took what he learned on the field and in the classroom and parlayed it into a successful business.

For Terrance Bullitt, when opportunity knocked, as it has done so often in his life, he didn’t just answer. He sprinted into action and made the most of it.

Some of the doors along the way of his journey were open only briefly, like when he competed for a job in the National Football League. Others remained unshut for longer periods.

Regardless, he used every experience, every moment, every episode as a chance to learn and grow. And when he put those lessons together, he discovered something powerful about himself.

He was an entrepreneur, undeterred by adversity and emboldened by what could be.

“I am a leader who leads by example more than by telling people what to do,” Bullitt said. “But as you grow, things get bigger and clearer.”

That is one way to look at the Bullitt Football Academy, a labor of love the Texas Tech University graduate and former Red Raider athlete has built from the ground up. The academy has grown literally from a couple of kids wanting to learn more about football to hundreds of athletes between the ages of 4 and 18 soaking up the intricacies of the game from Bullitt.

A lot of the success of this Dallas-Fort Worth talent magnet can be traced to Bullitt’s time at Texas Tech. He was not only an outstanding player for the Red Raider football team, but he also earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise & sports science from the Department of Kinesiology & Sport Management in the College of Arts & Sciences.

“I loved everything about Texas Tech,” he said. “From the campus to the West Texas sunsets to my professors. It really is my home away from home. I cannot thank Texas Tech enough for the lifelong amazing experiences.”

That sense of gratitude is something Texas Tech director of athletics Kirby Hocutt still remembers to this day.

“Terrance had some injuries while he was here, and we talked a couple of times before his final surgery through Texas Tech Athletics when his eligibility had expired,” Hocutt said. “I remember him being so thankful that Texas Tech Athletics was willing to help him when his playing days were over, and I thought about how thankful we are for the way he represented our university and played the game of football and the memories he brought to us here.”

The football path provided Bullitt with a lot of options as a high-profile recruit from Garland, Texas. He ultimately picked the Red Raiders, and he began building a resume of a different kind. He arrived at Texas Tech in 2009 and made enough of an impact as a standout contributor that he was named honorable-mention All-Big 12 Conference as a sophomore following the 2011 season.

“I was big on sticking through everything and just playing for the team,” he said of his time at Texas Tech. “I played for three different head coaches, so it seemed like I was in a different system almost every year.”

After a shoulder injury cut short his junior season, Bullitt turned in a strong senior campaign in 2013 (37 tackles, two sacks and two fumble recoveries). He wasn’t drafted the following spring, but he signed a free-agent deal with the Baltimore Ravens in 2014. 

He also completed his undergraduate degree work in three and a half years and credits longtime athletic academic adviser Rodney Lackey with helping him stay focused on a diploma.

“Terrance was always a good student,” said Lackey, now Texas Tech’s associate athletics director for academic excellence. “He had a great attitude and great personality, even when he was dealing with injuries toward the end of his career here.”

The two remain in touch to this day with Bullitt providing life updates and Lackey offering life advice.

“He was a major counselor for me,” Bullitt said. “He really helped me with my academics and when football was over as far as making sure my academics translated over to the realm of finding a job. He was there for me, helping set me up for success after I was a player.”

Bullitt did not pass his physical with the Ravens, the result of injuries sustained during his high school and college playing days. He spent stints with two other NFL teams before playing for two Canadian Football League franchises. He also logged time with the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football and the New York Guardians of the XFL.

So, if there is a professional football adventure anyone wants to discuss, Bullitt has knowledge to drop.

“I won’t say I gave up on all of my dreams,” he said of the frequent football stops. “But I knew it was time to move on and time to write my next chapter.”

If only it were that easy.

“I am going to be completely honest,” Bullitt says, gathering thoughts and collecting emotions. “When you’re playing, you never know when that last step is going to be. So, I went through a phase. I wasn’t necessarily lost; it was not knowing what the next step would be.”

For the first time in a long time, Bullitt was not an active participant on the field, but the game still owned his heart. He was also in something of an in-between space because his phone might ring with the tantalizing possibility of one more season.

One. More. Chance.

“Terrance was tough,” Hocutt said. “He played the game the way it’s meant to be played. He was a leader on the field, an emotional leader who led by example and a young man that, as I reflect back on his time here, I really enjoyed watching play on Saturdays.”

Bullitt wasn’t quite ready to coach because he believed he could still play at the highest level. Instead of coaching, he found a narrower path and started training others in the language of football. He wasn’t tied down, and he could work at his own pace with as few or as many clients as he wanted.

It was the start of something special.

“I was very passionate about what I did,” he said. “And it just grew so fast. Over the years, more and more kids started coming, and the structure of a football academy program began to take shape.”

These days the Bullitt Football Academy is a full-blown destination for young players who want to learn the game and excel at it. The academy is billed as the “No. 1 select football organization in the nation.” He balances the rigor of running his own business with the sense of calling he feels coaching linebackers as an assistant at Richardson High School. He also aspires one day to be a head coach leading a high school program of his own.

Bullitt is not only the academy CEO, but he is also the on-field subject-matter expert, the coach and the mentor all rolled into one. He also serves as chief encourager and cheerleader, urging these youngsters to realize their full potential as both athletes and people.

It has come a long way since its launch a couple of months before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted everything in March 2020. It wasn’t the greatest time to unveil a groundbreaking business venture, but despite the early headwinds, Bullitt has made the academy the success it is by relentlessly staying in his lane and refusing to be distracted.

“My ultimate goal is to build a youth football program that prepares athletes for adversity and challenges on and off the field,” he said. “It’s a program that will develop and help prepare athletes for the next level. Bullitt Football Academy is here to stay.”

The academy includes tackle football teams that compete nationally as well as 7-on-7 teams and football skills training. Bullitt anchors his teaching in his own experiences as a Division I and professional player and teaches offense from the Air Raid attack made famous by coaches with Texas Tech pedigrees such as Mike Leach, Lincoln Riley and Kliff Kingsbury.

“I absorbed a lot of principles that I apply to my football program here,” he said. “It’s based on what I learned and observed and was a part of at Texas Tech.”

He has continued to learn. Young athletes have changed over the past couple of decades, and a lot of parents are now hyper-involved in their kids’ athletic lives, carefully monitoring who enters their orbit.

“You have to set the tone as the leader,” Bullitt said. “You have rules. You follow the rules, and whatever I say is what I follow through with. So, I have had some hard conversations with parents, but one of my favorite sayings is, ‘No one is bigger than the program,’ meaning you can’t let one person dictate things if you want to be successful.”

Bullitt didn’t start out planning to design a nationally known football academy. The pieces fell together as he reflected on his own experiences as a player. The academy draws players from all over Texas as well as surrounding states like Louisiana and Oklahoma. Bullitt does the lion’s share of the marketing, but the secret sauce of its growing appeal is in the word-of-mouth experiences that travel quickly through social media and other means in a relatively small youth football universe.

“I had no idea that this was going to be what it is today,” he said. “Now, though, the vision is crystal clear. I want to make sure as we continue to grow, we keep the quality of the quantity.”

The academy is a year-round enterprise for the most part with workouts beginning at the first of the year before a spring football season, summer workouts and the fall season.

It is a demanding schedule for Bullitt, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He has become more focused on sharing the success of the academy with others and urging prospective clients to come learn from him.

“The thing is, I enjoy what I’m doing,” he said. “I know that I am building something here too and that eventually I will be managing things instead of running things.

“We’re trying to catch the wind and take fire. In the past, I was almost too humble to say anything about it, but now I talk to everyone I can and encourage them to send their player to my program. They are going to grow here.”

Bullitt’s success comes as no surprise to Lackey, who saw his work ethic and attention to detail years ago. Lackey was certain Bullitt would do well, regardless of the path he chose.

“I think, really, it was a smooth transition for him,” Lackey said. “It’s nice to see his progress as far as what he eventually started with and planned on. Now, you see the success he’s having there, it’s amazing.”

Likewise, Hocutt expresses no surprise at what Bullitt has achieved.

“I have always respected people who identified their passion and their why in life,” he said. “Terrance has been able to stay around a game he loves and also help young people. That’s always been important to him. When he would come back to campus and we had a chance to visit, he talked about his passion for giving back to kids, and he has been able to do that through physical development and sport development, which is important to him.”

For the first time in a long time, Bullitt can cast his eyes toward the future. He knows the academy is on solid footing – just like his coaching career.

Now, it is a matter of prioritizing his attention. Both possess equal importance, and in some ways, each contributes to the success of the other. As his coaching trajectory increases, so does his credibility as the leader of the academy.

“There is no telling what the academy might look like if I keep going,” he says, voice filled with confidence. “I don’t think there is any limit. I would like it to be something that lives past me so the dream will continue.

“I keep doing this because I remember being an athlete. I remember how my dad prepared me for my journey. I feel like anyone who sees themselves playing in the NFL can learn what I learned as far as someone who went down that road. The thing is, you have to make your reps count, and I want to be someone who is there for others when they’re going through adversity. That’s paying it forward.”

To the young athletes he is now shepherding, Bullitt is also a role model. They see a successful man who has put in the work day after day and built his dream. 

“It is extremely important for me to be seen as a role model,” he said. “I believe my actions and behavior on and off the field can have a significant impact on others, especially young aspiring athletes and entrepreneurs. I strive to lead by example and be a positive influence for those looking up to me.

“I have a responsibility to conduct myself with integrity, respect and professionalism in all aspects of my life. Ultimately, being seen as a role model is not just about personal satisfaction, but also making a positive impact on the lives of others and contributing to the greater good.”

Bullitt never says anything came easily. He knows better. Yet he also knows persistence and consistency are their own rewards. For him, success is the result of clear goals, discipline, continuously learning, persevering, self-care and surrounding yourself with smart, talented people.

The formula is simple.

“Be present where your feet are,” he said. “Do not rush the process. Instead, trust and embrace the process.”

Sounds a lot like a coach, right? But this coach received a lot of his training at Texas Tech, and he hasn’t forgotten it.

“If you have a dream – on or off the field – it can be achieved through Texas Tech University,” he said. “Texas Tech has all the resources needed to set you up for success. You just have to have the drive and willpower to relentlessly chase your dream.”