After 12 years as an assistant, Diego Vela is actualizing something that has been inside him forever.

Track and field has always been a part of Vela's life. It's an itch he can't scratch. It's something, no matter how fast he goes, he can't run away from. But he doesn't really want to run away at all.

In the summer of 2025, Vela was named the head coach of the Jacksonville track and field team. The Dolphin program is one of the most historic in the south, with decades of longstanding history and records to go along with it. He is the next in long line of successful coaches. It didn't come without years of preparation, learning and a bit of the magic Vela sees within the sport.

Vela took over for previous head coach Bambi Brundage, who was alongside the former assistant his entire time at Jacksonville. He now gets to continue what she started and what the formed over the past decade and change.

"I was super happy, super excited to continue working with the student-athletes," Vela said. "We have a phenomenal group. I enjoy the environment. I enjoy all the things JU can offer to our athletes."

The Peruvian-native always ran track. It was his sport through high school. In the back of his mind, Vela knew continuing in track was going to be his life's path. He wasn't going to run endlessly, but he knew he could be involved with the sport forever if he went into coaching.

Vela got his Bachelor's in Cuba, training alongside the best the country had to offer. In 2007, Vela went to work for the Guatemalan National Team for five years. In 2012, he came stateside and started working in northeast Florida, including stops at UNF and Creekside High School, before ending up as a full-time assistant at JU in 2014.

Over a decade later, and one master's degree at JU, Vela is the head a program for the first time in his life.

"Being a head coach is something that has always crossed my mind," Vela said. "It's something every assistant wants to do at any point. I'm super excited about the opportunity." 

Helping Athletes Grow

What has fueled Vela through his time in the sport is the passion to continually achieve more. He has the same competitive fire he had while competing when he coaches. 

"I love to get better. I love working towards a goal and sharing those moments with teammates," Vela said. "We all want to show what we can do physically, mentally."

Achieving on the track, grass or sandpit isn't the end all-of his coaching philosophy, however. You can only sprint or jump for so long as Vela knows well.

There is more to life beyond competitions. If Vela does the job he wants to do properly, he will have prepared his girls for far more than a weekend competition.  

"Once you are a coach, you help athletes grow in a holistic way. You make them believe," Vela said. "You help them realize what they can do. You see the impact not only in the athlete, but in their families. And then they pass that down to the next generation."

Part of the reason Vela has been so successful is his ability to understand people from all walks of life. Some of his athletes are the first in their family to attend college. Some may not speak the same language as others. Some may not even be the best athletes on their own college teams before competing collegiately.

And then there are some who have had it in them all along, who just need the right person to get it out.

The Proof

Out of Nesconset, New York, Brundage and Vela found a jumper who wasn't heavily recruited. She wasn't garnering major college attention. However, there was something within Julia Sue-Kam-Ling both coaches needed in Jacksonville.

The long jumper came to JU as a walk-on. Vela said from the onset he knew there "was some fire in there." As a freshman, Sue-Kam-Ling just needed the right push to let that fire become an inferno.

"I showed her she had the potential to do it," Vela said. "Maybe she was too nervous when she started. But then she became unstoppable."

Taking a chance on Sue-Kam-Ling paid dividends in the spring of 2025, when the junior jumper became an Honorable Mention All-American, earning a spot in the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon after a top-12 showing at the NCAA East Regional.

A once under recruited athlete became one of the best in the country and became the first Dolphin long jumper since 2007 to head out west to Eugene.

"She has the magic," Vela said. "I'm just there watching. It's just being there, helping, finding the appropriate execution."

Sue-Kam-Ling wasn't the first accomplished athlete Vela has coached. She certainly won't be the last. Vela has been a part of JU's storied history and one he wants to continue to grow as the head man.

"We've had a lot of athletes that have come here and done amazingly," Vela said. "That's what I love about track and field. I tell them that if I do my job, they can do everything on their own. My goal is to make myself obsolete. I can't do it for them."

Landing In A Special Place

Track isn't like other "team" sports. While there are girls that run in the relays and multiple jumpers in one event, it's a solo sport at its core. An athlete is competing against everyone else on their own, despite their team being right around them.

The individuality of track and field is what Vela treasures the most. When someone like Sue-Kam-Ling sets a personal record on her final jump of the ASUN Championships to send her to NCAA Regionals, that is when magic truly becomes visible for all. A magic Vela knows is there always, just waiting to materialize.

"It's something you can't describe very well. It's magical. You can see it," Vela said about his coaching taking hold during a meet. "This is my way to help another human being."

Vela knows he didn't get to where he is alone. It took the faith of coaches like Brundage, administrators like athletic director Alex Ricker-Gilbert to allow him to join the Jacksonville family and make his mark. Vela could have coached anywhere and done well. It was through those he coached with at JU which made him into what he is today; far more than anything he could have dreamed of.

"I learned from the best," Vela said. "As years passed, I continued to witness and learn. Fast forward and I'm still here, and I'm continuing to do the things I learned from them. I'm just a very lucky guy who landed at the right spot in the right moment. It was fate."

The opportunity at JU is also what emanates from Vela personally and professionally. There is a grittiness about the school, and its athletes Vela wants to cultivate. There is also the tightknit community aspect of the school which allows for success to spread like the Spanish moss that dots the school's oak trees.

As his team is running on the track, the lacrosse team could be practicing. As his team is going to class, they are joined on the walk by other athletes. Everyone knows one another, and everyone wants the others to succeed. 

"We have a unique opportunity here," Vela said. "JU is a tight community. Everyone knows each other. You walk around and hear about basketball games, baseball games. We know when lacrosse is doing well. We see each other and motivate each other. It's contagious. This is a very special place."

The Magic

Vela laughs when student-athletes arrive on campus and they note the good weather, proximity to beaches and to the meets they compete in. He smiles when little known jumpers come to school and stare wide-eyed at the trophies that dot his office. They see success stories. Most importantly, they see themselves becoming one.

"We are the underdog," Vela said. "We aren't on ESPN every weekend. (But) then we are there all the same. We work hard; we do things the right way. And that helps the athletes believe they can do anything."

The goal of track and field is simple: one must run faster, jump higher or throw longer than the person beside you. Its simplicity is its magic. 

But the sport is all on your own. Student-athletes are with Vela for two hours a day but must continue to be student-athletes the other 22 hours. The 22 spent away is just as important as the two spent with the newly minted head coach.

If he does his job well, he can sit under his signature black umbrella in silence and watch as the magic plays out. Because with Vela, the magic is never far away.

"Our lives are movies," Vela said. "You are the main character. It's not about us. It's about what we can do for someone else. Track and field helps me do that. I see life that way. That's why I love this."