RIO GRANDE VALLEY – There's nary a hat Michel Matlock won't wear to help someone she cares for. 
 
She has overseen operations for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's (UTRGV) baseball program since 2018, supporting her husband, Vaqueros head coach Derek Matlock, his team and the university. 
 
Her contributions to the program go beyond travel itinerary, budgeting, inventory and the many tasks she completes. Michel serves as a mother figure for the young men on the team, listening to and giving advice for their struggles, celebrating accomplishments, making sure the snack room is always stocked. 
 
The reason Michel naturally impacts those around her is simple: she leads with love. Love for the game, her husband, her extended family of coaches and staff members and student-athletes, and UTRGV. 
 
It's no wonder why six couples have asked her to be a big part of one of their most special days. She has officiated five weddings in the last five years, and she'll be adding a sixth in October. 
 
"It's such an honor and a privilege for a couple to trust me to marry them. It makes me feel so good," Michel said. "They'll ask, 'How much do you charge?' And I'm like, 'I don't think you can afford me. It's $0.00.' It's a lot of fun and I enjoy every minute of it." 
 
The first wedding was in 2018. Michel married Chris and Katelyn Johnston, who the Matlocks met at West Virginia when Derek was an assistant baseball coach and Chris was a trainer. 
 
"Katelyn was one of my good friends, so I'd kind of gotten them together. We'd joke, like from Friends, when Joey married Monica and Chandler? I'd say, 'I can get ordained,'" Michel reflected. "They asked if I really thought I could, and I said, 'Sure, I think it's pretty easy.' Then one day they FaceTimed me and said, 'Will you marry us?' It was great." 
 
Being ordained led to Michel conducting a string of weddings within the UTRGV Athletics family. 
 
Ryan Jackson and Denise Jackson are high school sweethearts who married in February 2021 after meeting at McAllen Rowe. Ryan played four seasons for UTRGV baseball, two under Matlock, and he and Denise graduated from the university. They returned to UTRGV in 2022-23 after Ryan was added to the baseball staff and Denise was hired as a student-athlete academic success advisor.  
 
The COVID-19 pandemic left the pastor from their church in New Braunfels, where they lived at the time, unable to make the trip to the Valley for the wedding. So, the couple called in Michel.  
 
"Michel previously joked to Ryan that she could officiate our wedding, and I thought it was hilarious because she wears so many hats so of course being ordained was one of them," Denise said. "We asked if she would do us the favor of marrying us and thankfully, she said yes, no conditions, no money. Michel personally wrote our ceremony script and added a beautiful prayer to it because she knew how much it meant to us to apply our religious beliefs. We really appreciated that." 
 

Michel not only officiated the wedding of assistant baseball coach Robert Martinez and his wife, Karla, but also helped plan the event. In June 2021, the Martinezes were married on the field at UTRGV Baseball Stadium. Rob walked out from the home dugout and Karla from the visitor's dugout, and they met under an arbor at home plate made by Stacy Lord, wife of women's basketball head coach Lane Lord. 
 
The Lords and Matlocks have developed an incredibly close friendship since Lane was hired in 2018, one year after Derek. The families spent Christmas together last winter. Soon after, Lane's daughter, Logan, and her then-fiancé Taylor Steen asked Michel to officiate their wedding. She happily accepted and married the Steens in July 2023 in Missouri. 
 
"Logan has become very close with Michel and Derek the past five years and she wanted nobody else to marry her and Taylor. Michel's ability to make everyone feel special was the most important factor in Logan's decision," Lane said. "It speaks volumes to the friendships we have with the Matlocks and the people we have met in the Valley. It's really 16 teams, one family. It was an awesome day for us all." 
 
In October, Michel will be officiating the union of Jake Martinez, who served as a UTRGV baseball's manager during Derek's first three years at the helm, and his fiancé, Lani. Jake's older brother and former Vaqueros baseball player Zach Martinez (2015-19) also remains close with the Matlocks. 
 
Michel writes the ceremonies herself, using her relationship and conversations with each couple to incorporate personal details to the "I Do's," mentioning movies, pets, sports, hobbies and beyond to make each wedding unique. She'll highlight the importance of marriage, offer up some advice, orchestrate the vows and ring exchange. She takes the task very seriously and appreciates every opportunity to celebrate a pair's big day. 
 
"Michel did an amazing job in the ceremony using baseball references to make it special, since Logan's husband coaches baseball at Pittsburg State. It was really sweet and personal. Everyone was impressed," Lane said. 
 
It's a moving responsibility, to help a couple begin their marriage. People see Michel as someone they can trust to do so because of the example she and Derek have set with their union. 
 
The Matlocks married on Aug. 12, 1989. They have three sons, Dylan, Ryan and Brett. Michel was the mother-of-the-groom and officiant at the wedding of Ryan and Bri Matlock in 2022. Through the three decades they've been doing life together, their love keeps getting stronger. 
 
"Of course I love my husband, but I also like him and want to be around him. And he wants me with him. He's my best friend. We're together all the time now, but when we're apart I still miss him," Michel said. "When people see how well we get along and that we can work together, I hope they see us as good role models." 
 
Michel's caring nature and the Matlocks' marriage leaves a lasting impact on the young men who go through the program. She often receives life updates from former Vaqueros, which is one of her favorite things. From wedding invitations to career moves to pregnancy or birth announcements – including a text within 45 minutes of Chase Bridges' (2020-22) son's arrival – she's kept in the loop because her love is a life lesson. 
 
"The Matlocks have helped me grow not just as a person but as a husband. They helped me learn what marriage is all about," Ryan Jackson said. "Derek taught me to be a blue-collar worker while Michel taught me about family. She welcomed Denise and me with open arms, as she does with all our players and coaches and their families." 
 
As sports people do, the Jacksons playfully "keep score of Michel's marriages," saying she boasts a 5-0 record with five happy couples and zero divorces as an officiant. The number of lives she has positively influenced can't be counted as easily, but it's clear, in her many roles, Michel brings people together and shows others how to love. 
 
"I always get a kick out of it whenever I'm asked. I was super nervous for the first one I did. Logan's wedding had almost 300 people and I thought I might lose it," Michel laughed. "I've been lucky to know everybody I've married really well, so I can personalize it and have the ceremony be more special. Everyone that works for Derek and UTRGV is so supportive and close and it's an awesome situation to be a part of. It's really an honor to do this." 

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