Duck hunter building memories through furniture construction

Tracy Tran

Coppell coach Ryan Dunlevy talks to Coppell senior forward Jojo Alonzo and defender Addison Martin at Buddy Echols Field before the Cowgirls’ scrimmage against Mansfield on Dec. 15. Dunlevy enjoys duck hunting and building furniture outside of coaching girls soccer.

Iniya Nathan, Staff Writer
January 13, 2021

A man of many hobbies, Ryan Dunlevy is not only the head coach for the Coppell girls soccer team and the money matters teacher at Coppell High School, but also a builder of furniture and duck hunter outside of school.

Being both a coach and a teacher is something Dunlevy takes a lot of pride in, believing his skills as a coach help him be a better teacher.

“Coaches kind of get a bad rap in the classroom as teachers,” Dunlevy said. “But ultimately, coaches are investing the same effort into their classroom as they are into their team, [and] coaches are usually very good at building relationships with kids; that’s why they’re effective coaches. Whenever those same skills are applied in the classroom, coaches have the opportunity to be a top tier level instructor in the classroom as well.”

As the teacher of a personal finance class, Dunlevy is glad his classes can have a lasting effect in his student’s life after high school, when managing money is an important part of one’s life. 

As a coach, Dunlevy focuses not only on helping his players improve on the field, but also off the field.

“He’s different than any coach I’ve ever had,” Coppell senior midfielder Maya Ozymy said. “He cares a lot about us, not just as players but as people. He’s helped me a lot with my college recruiting process, and I know he’s helped other people. Even if it’s not to play soccer in college he writes people’s recommendation letters. He does so much for us outside of soccer.”

One of Dunlevy’s interests outside of CHS is building furniture. 

“Whenever we first moved into the [CHS Field House], we didn’t have any shelving or hanging rack for our uniforms in our storage room.” Dunlevy said.“We have a weird size [and] shape for our storage room so I decided I would just build them myself so I [could] custom fit them. I enjoyed doing it. Then, I snowballed from there.” 

He has made many pieces for other families, from tables to barn doors.

“Whenever I started making [the] first couple tables for other people, they really enjoyed the process, and I really enjoyed building it and making a piece I knew they could sit down with their families and have dinner with forever,” Dunlevy said.

Dunlevy is also a passionate duck hunter. His father, Brian Dunlevy, took him duck hunting for the first time when he was around 5 years old. Brian Dunlevy began duck hunting around age 12 and decided to introduce the sport to his son at a young age. Coach Dunlevy and his father try to go every weekend during the duck hunting season, which starts towards the end of November and ends late January.

“We’ve been [duck hunting] together for an awful long time,” Brian Dunlevy said. “We enjoy it a lot during our time together. [Being retired] I get to spend more time with my family and [the time spent together duck hunting is] important to me. I do remember we took Ryan’s son [duck hunting] and I got a picture of three generations of us going out.”

For Coach Dunlevy, it’s not only an outing to spend time with family, but something he genuinely loves doing.

“I get out there pretty early in the morning and sit in the dark for hours on end just to shoot some ducks,” Coach Dunlevy said. “It’s my favorite thing to do. I absolutely love it. It is my number one true love outside of teaching and coaching. I do it every opportunity that I get.”

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