By any measure, Luis Medina’s path through college football hasn’t been smooth. It’s been a winding road lined with bruises, setbacks and leadership moments forged in adversity. And yet, here he is in 2025, returning to Troy for another season. Not for glory, not for stats, but to finish something he never truly saw as complete.
In an era where college athletes transfer schools almost as often as they change cleats, Medina’s loyalty to Troy is rare. This will be his sixth year with the program, a tenure that has seen COVID-19 disruptions, a season-ending injury, and three head coaches. Still, he never walked away. He never even hesitated.
“I feel like I’m a key to this team,” Medina said. “No cockiness, all humble. But I’ve been here through it all, I’ve seen the losing seasons, the championship years, the coaching changes. I owe it to this team to finish what we started.”
Roots in Resilience
To understand Medina’s loyalty and quiet tenacity, you have to go back to where it all started.
He was born in New Jersey and raised primarily by his grandparents, Charles and Betty. His mother, Savannah Shockley, was present too, but it was his grandparents who shaped much of his early foundation. His older brother, Victor, joined the Marines, and Medina idolized him.
“That was my main guy outside of my granddad,” he said. “He paved the way for me.”
When Medina’s grandfather suffered a stroke, the family moved to Georgia to help care for him. Ten people packed into a two-bedroom house: his grandparents, his mom, his aunt, his brother, his sister and four cousins.
“It was tough, but we made it work,” Medina said. “That bond, that unity, it taught me how to bring people together. That’s helped me in the locker room more than anything else.”
From those cramped quarters came the foundation of a football leader: someone who understands sacrifice, loyalty, and selflessness.
Medina didn’t even start playing football until he moved to Georgia in middle school. Back in New Jersey, he had focused on baseball and wrestling.
“I saw my cousins playing football, and I just wanted to be around it,” he said. “I wanted to be out of the house, away from the stuff I was dealing with. Sports were my way out.”
Soon, he was playing football, wrestling competitively, running track, and still keeping up with baseball. But it wasn’t about building a résumé. It was about staying focused, finding discipline, and avoiding the traps so many others around him fell into.
Setbacks and Staying Power
Medina arrived at Troy in 2020, part of head coach Chip Lindsey’s recruiting class. From the beginning, he was all-in.
“Coach Lindsey and Coach Davern (Williams) came to my school all the time. The love they showed me was real,” Medina said.
That trust kept him grounded, even as the program faced major disruptions.
In 2022, during the third game of the season, Medina fractured his navicular bone in his foot. Incredibly, he finished the game despite the injury.
“Probably not the best idea,” he said, “but I wasn’t going to let my team down.”
That moment should have sidelined him mentally. Instead, it became fuel.
“That right there woke me up,” Medina said. “It reminded me how fast it can all be taken away. And it made me realize how much I still wanted this.”
Then came the coaching carousel. Lindsey was out, Jon Sumrall came in, then eventually exited. In 2024, Gerad Parker stepped into the head coaching role.
Many players used the instability as a reason to leave. Medina never considered it.
“It wasn’t about who was in the office. It was about Troy. It was about the guys in that locker room, the people in this community,” he said.
In the 2025 offseason, as the transfer portal heated up, Medina made his decision early and publicly. He was staying. Not only that, but he also challenged his teammates to do the same.
“I wanted the guys to know I’m here. We’ve got a job to finish,” he said
That decision helped anchor a team on the verge of major turnover. It also reminded younger players what commitment looks like when it isn’t convenient.
“I’ve been here from the start,” Medina said. “I can show these guys what it takes. That kind of example matters.”
Leading by Legacy
Medina doesn’t need to speak loudly to be heard. His presence does the work. He is seen as the thread tying multiple generations of Troy Football together: from the early pandemic years, through the rebuild, to now.
His leadership style is rooted in his upbringing.
“Living with a lot of people taught me how to listen, how to compromise, how to bring people together,” he said. “That’s what I try to do here.”
Now in his sixth year, he regularly talks with younger teammates about what it means to stay the course. His message isn’t about wins. It’s about investment and pride.
“I want them to see that staying put can mean something,” Medina said. “That going through the hard times makes success more real.”
A Program Reborn
Entering the 2025 season, Medina sees a different energy surrounding the Trojans.
“That first year, everyone was adjusting. Coaches, players, nobody had their footing yet,” he said. “Now, we’ve built chemistry, confidence, identity.”
He feels it in the locker room.
“We’re locked in,” Medina said. “Nobody wants to go back to where we were. And that’s the difference: you have to hate losing more than you like winning.”
The roster is tighter. The expectations are clearer. Medina is the one who keeps the message consistent.
Looking Ahead
Medina has already earned his degree. Now he’s thinking about graduate school, encouraged daily by his mom and grandma, who call him constantly.
“My grandma still asks how school’s going, even though I graduated,” he laughed. “They just want what’s best.”
They can’t make it to every game. There are still many kids at home and travel is hard. But they watch from afar, and they’ll be tuned in for his final season.
“I didn’t want to leave,” Medina said. “Not until I finish what we started. This is my team. I’ve bled for this place. And I’m not done yet.”
Luis Medina’s story isn’t about headlines or highlight reels. It’s something deeper: a story of grit, of loyalty, of showing up when it’s hard and staying when it would be easier to leave.
In today’s college football landscape, where exits are easy and promises are often temporary, Medina stands apart. He doesn’t chase attention. He commits to the mission.
And he’s not going anywhere until it’s complete.
